Playing House
by Dejavued
Summary: Rich girls like to play house. They played as kids. Then she moved away. Matt grew bitter. He hated the way the town viewed him and worse he believed it about himself. Then she came back. Dropped unexpectedly into his life and it seemed she wanted to play house again. At a time when he needed help the most. Whatever. He could play along. They were only using each other, right?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

This is my new story idea. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please Review. :)

* * *

Chapter 1

"Randie!" Matt called from the top of the treehouse. "Where have you been?" She hadn't come to play in three days and it wasn't the same without her.

"My mom took me to Grams!" The little girl in the pink the sundress and strawberry blonde pigtails climbed the ladder and plopped down on the old tweed rug beside him.

"We already chose." Jaycee Hamilton, who was a bit snobby and spoiled because her mother gave her anything she wanted sat with a pout, her arms folded over her chest. "We're playing house and we already decided who the mom and dad is so you'll have to be something else."

"But that's not fair. Randie wasn't here." Matt was the oldest. Getting close to thirteen and his tolerance for childish things were fading.

"It's okay." Randie grinned mischievously. "I don't want to be the mom." Randie had recently turned eleven and had matured beyond her age both mentally and physically.

"You can be the kid this time." Jaycee, who always got stuck playing the kid or the maid smiled and dusted imaginary dirt off her frilly pink dress.

Matt hated playing with Jaycee. Every day she came with her hair fixed to perfection in a dress meant for Easter Sunday with the matching dress shoes she couldn't run in. They always had to do something that she could do without getting dirty. She always had to have her way and if she didn't get it she would run home to her Mama, full tears, screaming like she'd been hurt. Then her mother would call his mom and he would get in trouble for doing or saying something he didn't do. It was always easier just to let Jaycee have her way.

"I hate it when Jaycee's the mom!" Jeff, Matt's little brother whined.

"Hush up." Matt warned. Jeff was four years younger and he always had to look out for him. If Jeff did something wrong, Matt was the one responsible because he was the oldest and should have kept him out of trouble and Jeff was always getting into trouble.

"Fine. Me and Maddie will play something else. Come on Maddie." And Jeff stormed down the ladder with Jaycee's little cousin in tow.

"Randie, don't forget to make your bed and help me with the laundry." Jaycee was twirling in front of the full length mirror Matt's mom had donated to the tree house. "We've got to get this house clean for the dinner party tonight."

Randie rolled her eyes. "I'm not gonna be your kid, Jaycee."

"You have to. Who's going to be the baby? We have to have babies."

"Use the baby doll." Matt tossed the large doll she carried with her everywhere.

"Be careful. That doll cost more than your daddy makes in a month." Jaycee had a lot of nice things that she liked to rub in their faces including that stupid doll that was always dressed just like her. "So what are you going to be, Randie?"

"You and Matt are married and Matt is an executive in a big company and I will be his secretary."

"A secretary? Don't they just answer the phone and type letters?" Jaycee was pouting again.

"And bring coffee and go on business trips with the boss. I saw it in a movie at my Gram's house." Then Randie went over to the small roll top desk they had found on the side of the road. It was missing the drawers and the chair legs wobbled, but it worked. She picked up a toy typewriter that had tagged along and been left behind with by one of them over the years and placed it by the broken telephone she had dug out of her parent's trash when she was six.

"I'm going to work!" Matt called out in his pretend, deep husband voice, arranged and old wooden crate in front of the desk and pulled up a ratty old ottoman. He loved that old treehouse. The old wood it was made from was grey from the weather, it shook when he walked and it was an eye sore according to his mother, but it could be whatever he wanted it to be.

He lived on a farm and had a long chore list. He lived on a farm, but since he was eight, that treehouse was never far from his mind. He thought about it as he fed the animals and tended the barn. He squirmed impatiently at the breakfast table, waiting for the sun to rise and his mama's okay, then he would run off to meet Randie. He gazed around. The place didn't seem as magical as it once had. Growing up had peeled away the veil of fantasy, leaving nothing but it's the ugly truth of reality.

Once, he had walked in and seen a palace, now it was nothing but empty cardboard boxes and discarded trash they had accumulated. The once plush throne was nothing but a pile of yellowed pillows and leaking bean bags. The dining table was an old wooden spool from the plant his father worked in and its chairs nothing but stolen milk crates from the corner store. The stove, a box with a door cut out and knobs drawn on. He sighed. He had spent so much time building it over the years with Randie and he wasn't ready to give it up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't see it as it had once been.

Each day, it felt like his world was slipping away from him. He had a harder time staying lost in his fantasy world and he was thinking about things he'd never thought about before.

"Randie, my coffee cup's almost empty." He mocked what he'd seen on television before. "And put some sugar in it this time." A desperate attempt to hold on to what was left of the boy inside him. Pretending he didn't feel awkward playing the game he was playing.

"You know where the coffee pot is." Randie tapped on an old typewriter and brought the disconnected phone to her ear.

"You're a horrible secretary." Matt laughed and got up and pretended to fill an imaginary cup.

"If you want a better secretary, give me a raise."

"Oh, I'll give you a raise." He tickled her sides, making her squeal and scream at him to stop. He beginning to feel different things about girls too. He felt different about Randie.

"You spilled your coffee all over my desk and me." Randie swatted at the imaginary liquid on her dress, then let out a sigh. "I'll have to do it all over again." She sounded as if she was tired of playing, or maybe she was wishing it was as easy to play like him. "Here, your wife is on the phone." She stated blandly.

Randie must have seen Jaycee pouting because the girl brightened up and held her thumb and piggy finger to her ear.

"I would like to talk to my husband please." Jaycee said in her pretend, high pitched, better than everyone voice.

"Tell her I'm out to lunch." Matt stated dryly. "And you're coming with me."

They climbed out of the tree house and Matt grabbed Randie's hand the minute their feet were on the ground. They ran into the woods, Jaycee running behind as fast as she could in her fancy white dress shoes, but Matt was faster with his long legs and he pulled Randie along with him until he found his favorite fig tree. The branches were full of leaves and touched the ground, but the inside was hollow, allowing them to hide easily.

"You're not playing fair." Jaycee whined. They watched her through the leaves as she hunted for them. "I'm gonna tell!"

"She's going to run home to her mama," Randie warned.

"I don't care." Matt sat back against the tree and pulled a twig from the tree branch and began to strip off the leaves. "Do you ever feel like you want to play this game, but you kind of feel like you're not supposed to anymore?"

"Yeah." Randie sat in front of him, her legs stretched out beside his and crossed at the ankles. She pulled the braids out of her hair, like she did every day, leaving it in soft waves that fell around her. Matt loved when she did that even though he couldn't remember when he started noticing. "So what are we going to do now?"

"I don't know, adult stuff?"

"Fun." She said sarcastically. "My dad keeps telling me that I'm too old for toys and that he won't be buying me anymore. I guess I'll be getting clothes and stuff for Christmas now instead." She laughed. "I don't really play with my dolls and stuff anyway." Then she turned serious and he thought she looked sad. "And he says that I can't run off to play with you guys anymore."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I'm not supposed to be here now, but I snuck out."

"Are you going to be in trouble when you get home?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "But I had to say goodbye."

"You're not coming at all anymore?" Matt felt like someone had punched him in the gut.

"I guess not." She wiped a tear out of her eye. He'd never seen Randie cry. She was always falling and scraping her knee or cutting something. Her legs and arms were always bruised. One time he noticed she had bruises on the back of her neck so big that it disappeared behind the dress she wore because she'd fallen down the basement stairs the night before.

She was a clumsy kid. Always tripping, falling and bumping into things even though he'd never seen her fall more than any other kid did. And she was great at sports, as good as any boy he knew. She could play anything with him and his brother. She didn't mind being tackled playing football, she would slide into home playing baseball and she would dive into the dirt to hit that dang volleyball anywhere it soared.

"My mom left." She confided. "She took me to my Grams for a while. Then my dad came and got me last night and said I was going to live with him. And since my mom doesn't live with us anymore, I have to stay at home and do the chores and stuff from now on."

"I do that stuff. You'll still have time to hang out."

"No." She looked at her hands. "I'm not allowed to play with boys. Daddy says I'm at the age where it's not appropriate anymore. He never thought it was actually. It was my mom that didn't care."

"She's never coming back?"

"I don't think so. They're always yelling at each other. You should hear them fighting. It's really silly. It sounds just like Jeff and Maddie when they argue over some toy. Only I'm the toy. I don't want to love one parent more than the other, but I feel like I have to or I'll make them mad."

Matt knew right then and there that Randie had mentally matured over the three days she had been gone. Maybe even more than he had. Their childhood was fading and Matt really just wanted to hold on even though he wasn't sure why he was so desperate to keep things the same as they had always been.

"When I get married I'm not going to fight with my wife." Matt vowed.

"I don't think that's something you can promise. People fight when they get married."

"Well, I'm not going to get mad over little things."

"My dad gets mad if my mom cooks something he doesn't like for supper and they have big arguments over it and they don't talk for days sometimes."

"My dad doesn't do that. They only fight over bills and stuff. I don't get that either. I mean it's not like fighting is going to put more money in the bank."

"I'm not getting married. Then I won't have to worry about it."

"You're already married." Matt nudged her legs with his own. "You married me a hundred times."

"You're so silly Matt Hardy!" Randie laughed, then he leaned forward and gave her lips a quick peck. Her sparkling blue eyes grew wide with shock.

"What did you do that for?"

"Because I wanted to."

"Ha! I found you!" Jaycee poked her head into the tree. "My mom called your mothers and she said that they said that you better be nice and play with me or you'll be in big trouble."

"No they didn't." Matt spat and he and Randie climbed out from under the tree. "You're lying Jaycee."

"I am not."

"You are lying, Jaycee. Because my mother doesn't live with us anymore." Randie screamed at her. "And I don't want to play anymore. I'm too old to play these games."

"You're the same age as me." Jaycee challenged.

"Yeah, well some people have to grow up faster than others." Randie gave Matt that sad gaze before turning and heading out of the woods.

"Hey Randie!" Matt called after her. She turned. "You're still my wife."

She smiled. "I'll always be your wife, Matt."

Matt stretched out an arm and slapped the alarm clock. Of all the dreams to wake up remembering, it had to be that one. It wasn't even a dream. It was a memory of his twelve year old self and the girl next door. But that was a different time. Before his mother died. Before he had to tend to the cooking, the cleaning, the animals and the corn fields. Before he became the warden of five little brothers and before he realized that he was so poor, he was worth less than all the dirt in the town of Cheyenna.

He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and stared at the ceiling. That had been two years ago. Summer had ended for him that day and his childhood too. He hadn't thought about the tree-house in a long time and he had no clue why it had crept into his dreams. Shit. He sat up on the side of the bed. He didn't have time to reminisce. It was four a.m. on Saturday. He was already late getting to his chores. Time only moved forward. It couldn't be reversed. What happened, happened and could never be undone.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

This is my new story idea. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please Review. :)

* * *

Chapter 2

The sound of dresser drawers being opened and closed woke Randie. She heard her father and stepmother, Anna whispering in their room and her heart began to thump fast and hard. She pressed a palm against her chest, took a deep breath and grasped the framed picture from her nightstand.

"Get up!" her father flung open her door and barked. "Pack two suitcases. That's it."

It was happening. It was really happening. They'd moved before, but she thought it was permanent this time. They'd been in that house for five years. Her father's home. Left to him by his mother, or so she'd thought. But now it seemed that it belonged to her uncle and they were all squatters.

She packed everything she could fit in those two child sized suitcases. All her larger ones had been given to Jaycee. Her stepsister. Her mother had only been gone a week before he'd moved in the woman and her bratty spoiled daughter.

"This sucks!" Jaycee whined at her door. "I still have so much to pack and your father said I can't take anymore. It's all your fault!" I could feel her anger like heat from an iron radiator. "I need another suitcase." She snatched the small pink case that Randie had just begun to fill and dumped her things out of the bed.

"I need this one Jaycee."

"What is the problem?" Her father snarled. He seen her snatch the case from Jaycee as he'd walked to the door. "Give it back." He narrowed those black eyes at Randie. "Jaycee needs more than you do."

Great. Randie sighed. She knew better than to argue with her father. The girl had four of her own suitcases. All large, some with wheels and she was given hers as well. Now, she had to leave most of her things behind while Jaycee loaded her father's truck.

It didn't matter. She didn't have much anyway and what she had was second hand. Jaycee was the one who got everything because she was skinnier. She was prettier and she had won tons of awards for pageants. Her father favored the girl over his own daughter who he had never given anything to. It was her mother who had loved her, so why he'd insisted that she remain with him was a mystery. He reminded her how much of a burden she was and how much she had ruined his life every time he ran low on money. Usually after getting off the phone with someone who owed him.

Randie glanced around the room. The pretty white furniture, the frilly pink curtains and matching bedspread. The porcelain dolls. None of it had been hers. It had all been there when they'd moved in and she hadn't been allowed to touch anything. She wondered if they would be like they were when she was little. Packing and unpacking, wandering around like homeless gypsies. Moving into furnished homes, then leaving an accelerated rush in the middle of the night.

She'd never missed the places she had lived in before, but she had never stayed long enough to make friends and she had been so young that the only people she cared about moved with her. She picked up that framed photograph and tears came to her eyes. She'd fallen in love with that boy. Given him her heart and her first kiss and her father had forbidden her from being near him. Made her ignore him in school. All because of Jaycee and her lies. Now, he thought she hated him.

She put the photograph in her suitcase, hiding it beneath the clotehs inside, then she ran from the house. She'd be in a lot of trouble, but she didn't care. She'd deserve her father's wrath. Take it gladly. She'd been punished for so much that she hadn't done that one more beating didn't seem to matter.

It was the middle of the night, but she knew he would be up. He was always up tending to his family's farm. Sometimes she wake up and sit in her window. She could see the barn but it was so far away she couldn't see him, but she could see his lantern and she was always tempted to sneak out the window and run to him, but she had always been so afraid.

"Matt!" Fueled by desperation she nearly screamed his name the moment she saw him. He turned from the feed trough he was filling and she flung herself into his arms before he could any words could fall from his mouth.

He pushed her away.

"What the hell, Randie?" He spat. "You act like you don't know me at school. You haven't spoken to me in two years!"

"I'm leaving."

"Good. I got a lot to get done."

"No. We're moving. We're going right now." She sobbed.

Those big brown eyes stared, a twinkle of the past flashing. He grabbed her, pulled her to his chest and she threw her arms around his neck, grasping his shirt so tight in her fists she knew it would remain disfigured when she let go.

He caressed her hair, his broad hand moved up and down on her back. She looked up at the sky. It was one of those nights – cold, dark and no stars. She hated nights with no stars. She hated the shadows of the night so much that she depended on those stars. They represented all the dreams of her future. Dreams that had always included him and now she didn't know what her future held. It like all she had left was that one moment and his embrace that felt so warm and safe. She didn't want to let go.

In the distance she saw her father stomping through the fields. In her mind, she screamed, demanded time to stand still. To freeze, but it didn't listen. Her father marched closer and closer.

"Try not to forget me." Matt whispered in her ear.

"I'll never forget you," she promised. "I'm still you're wife, right?"

"Forever." Then he pulled away, cupped her face in his calloused hands and kissed her lips.

Matt was her first kiss. Now he was her second and this time it lasted long enough for her to return it. She opened her mouth slightly, inviting the tongue that touched her lips and she forced her own to quickly learn how to dance with his until her father ripped her away.

"Please don't make me leave." She begged him. "I want to live with Mom." She never voiced her opinions before. She'd always done what she was told, without question, but this time it felt like her life depended on her.

"Why? So you can screw around with those boys? So you can be a whore like her? She's not even your real mother. Your real mother is dead." he shoved her to the ground, her head bouncing off the car she landed near. "Get in the car. I'll deal with you later."

Her father glanced at the head lights coming up the road, then sped up as if it were coming for him. She picked herself up, the tears falling so fast that she couldn't see straight, but she managed to find her seat, or the small space between Jaycee's many cartons and the door. She had no room and it was going to be a long ride to where ever they were going. Something was sticking her in the side and she had to lean on the door.

Anna was sitting behind the wheel, her precious beauty queen by her side. The motor was running waiting on her father to emerge from the house and it was put in gear as soon as he was in his truck and they were backing away.

Randie gazed out the window. She saw Matt's lantern, sitting still instead of moving about as it normally did. She placed a hand on the window. She had been heartbroken when her father had forbade her to be friends with Matt, but leaving the town where he lived hurt even more. Knowing she would never even see him crushed her.

They were almost out of the drive way when her head was sudden thrust forward. She grasped her neck. She had yet to put on her seatbelt and she hadn't been ready for the sudden jolt. She glanced behind. A car had pulled into their path. In front, her father leapt from his truck and confront the man who yelled as he climbed from his own vehicle.

It had been a long time, but she remembered them.

"Aunt Peg!" she rushed from the vehicle and into the arms of the woman she had lived with for a short time. She didn't remember exactly how old she had been, but she remembered her warm hugs and gentle smile.

"My sweet girl." Her Aunt Peg hugged her. "You've grown so much."

She held tight until while her father and uncle fought. Yelling and screaming about the house and how my father had had no right to move into it without his permission. Her aunt and uncle were the only family of her father's she had ever met.

"I have as much right to it as you do." Her father bellowed, but the man believed that he had a right to anything he desired, no matter who it belonged to.

"It belonged to my mother, not yours." They were only half-brothers. Sharing a father and they had grown up in different homes, only spending a few moments together from time to time. They never really got along even though her uncle had tried several times.

"And you never use it. What's the problem with us staying here? You didn't need it. The army provided you with everything!"

"So that just makes it alright to steal my home?" her uncle was in the Army and apparently his home has stood idol as he moved from one assignment to another. Apparently he had finished his tour and had planned to return only to find that it had not been sitting as vacant as he thought.

"You were always selfish." Her father spat. "Always."

"I could have you arrested!" her uncles spat, then he calmed down.

"Cal!" her aunt called out. "Cal!" Her uncle glanced back at his wife who nodded to Randie, the young girl who was scared to death.

"I'm leaving. Keep your precious house!" her father screamed. "I'm done with you anyway."

"Yeah, run. Like you always do when you come across someone you can't bully" Her uncle yelled.

"I'm the bully?"

"You bully everyone. The whole town is scared of you. Where ever you go! Every town. And your own daughter. She's terrified of you."

"You and you're money who can't even help family."

"I've helped you dozens of times. And you keep taking and taking until nothings left." Uncle Cal glanced at his niece. "You need help?"

"Yeah." Her father told him.

"Fine, I'll help but I won't give you money to spend on booze. Leave Randie with us."

"No." her father laughed.

"Leave Randie and I won't press charges."

"It sounds like you're trying to blackmail me, Cal." Her father spat.

"If that's what it takes. She's better off with us and you know it. Isn't that why you wanted us to adopt her years ago. Then you ran off in the middle of the night right before we were supposed to meet our lawyer."

"I changed my mind." Her father laughed.

"But you didn't mind taking the money we gave you. That was the deal, Jake. Twenty thousand for your daughter. Rightfully, she belongs to us."

"But legally, she's mine." Her father reminded him. "Another twenty grand and I'll let you have the little brat but until then." Her father snatched her away and forced her back into the car. "She stays with me."

"Why don't you do what's best for her for once."

"It's not my problem you're shooting blanks little brother. That's your problem."

As they drove away from the only town she had ever considered home, it felt like the darkness fell all around her even though the sun was rising. Her sleepiness returned. Or maybe it was exhaustion from crying. She fell asleep against the window and when she awoke, she was in surrounded by big buildings and a sea of cars. They were barely moving. The sound of the honking horns and Jaycee's whining about leaving all her friends behind made her head throb. Her father must have been planning the move for a long time because after several hours on the high way, they pulled up to an apartment complex. It only had only two bedrooms which meant she would have to share a room with Jaycee, but as began unpacking I learned that I wouldn't have a room at all. I had to sleep on the old ratty sofa that someone had left behind. It smelled and was shoved to one side of the room so Anna could place her plush suede sofa in the center of the room. She couldn't sleep on that because Anna said it would cause it to dip in the center and ruin it.

Randie hated the new apartment. She hated the way it smelled. She hated the old sofa with the springs that poked her all night. She laid awake most nights. Listening to the sirens. Seemed someone somewhere was always in trouble or hurt. She felt sorry for them, then thought about their families who would be there for them. Caring for them if they were hurt, worrying if they were in trouble. She had no one. Nothing but a servant in her own home. Even the family portrait on the wall didn't include her. All she had was dreams and a picture of the only friend she'd ever had.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

This is my new story idea. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please Review. :)

* * *

Chapter 3

"Hi, Matt."

Matt had rolled his eyes. Jaycee Hamilton. The girl that had been labeled the prettiest girl in town since she was ten. His younger brother, Jeff thought so too obviously, jumping off the porch railing, sucking in his gut and jutting out his chest, the moment he saw her walking up the drive. And Marty, five imitated him.

"I thought you moved." Matt spat. He hadn't missed Jaycee and he could tell by her designer jeans that she hadn't changed much in the year she'd been gone.

"We're visiting for the summer."

Of course, he had heard that Jaycee was in town. She was all Jeff could talk about for two weeks straight and he'd hoped he didn't have to set eyes on her.

She handed over a brown paper wrapped whiskey bottle "Daddy asked me to drop this by."

"You're Daddy?" He arched an eyebrow, but Jaycee only answered with a smile. That same disgusting, serpentine smile he'd despised when they were kids. "What's he want?" Matt took the bottle with a groan.

It wasn't the first time his father had arranged a trade with Jake Parker. They'd done it many times before the man had left town. Matt's family owned one of the few farms left in that small town. Selling fresh pork, chicken, beef and corn is what kept his family a float and sometimes his father would trade a pound or two of something for a bottle of expensive liquor Jake Parker kept stocked. He just wondered when they had ran into each other.

"Sausage." She flicked her eyes up and down. "You're looking good Matt."

"Hump." Matt went inside, grabbed a package from the freezer, and then slapped it in her hand so he could be rid of her.

"Don't you want to ask me about Randie? You do remember Randie?"

"Why would I ask you about Randie?" He said hatefully. He hadn't let himself think of her. He hadn't even let her name escape his lips. Some things were better off left in the past.

"Well, she's not with us if you're wondering."

"I wasn't wondering." But it did seem strange. Almost as strange as his neighbors inviting them for a visit. The whole town knew how Jake Parker had moved into his brother's home without permission and how he had tried to leave town before the man came back from his tour of duty.

"Maybe you and I can go for a soda sometime." Why did she have to linger?

"No thanks." He spat. He was far too busy to chase after some child and Jaycee was still obviously a child. He was responsible for the feeding the animals, tending the fields, cleaning the house, the cooking and he was the warden over his five younger brothers. He was far too mature to daydream over some girl. Any girl. Much less the spoiled Jaycee Hamilton.

"Oh, why not?" Jaycee pouted.

"Girl, your tits haven't even grown in yet." He snapped hatefully. The girl with the now golden blonde waves let out a frustrated and angry little scream, but it got her off his porch.

Jeff gave him a hard shove as he stomped into the house.

"What the hell did you do that for?" Matt stormed in after him. "I ought to whip your ass!"

"She likes you!" Jeff spat as if Matt had betrayed him. The twins, Cory and Cameron who were three stopped playing with their trucks and looked up with scared eyes.

"Jaycee Hamilton is never going to end up with someone like us. Hell, I wouldn't want to. She's a arrogant little rich girl. Get over it and give the twins a bath so I can get the other two in. If we wait any later there won't be any hot water left for Dad's shower when he gets home."

"Do it yourself."

Matt groaned. Jeff was so stubborn and lazy and he got away with it because his Dad was too tired to do much more than reprimand him for it. Or maybe it was Jeff was blonde haired with blue eyes like their mother. His whole life it seemed like Jeff, Marty and the twins got all of the attention. They were so cute, so adorable. Everyone they came in contact with in town just went crazy over them. Only he and Sloan bore the dark hair and eyes of their father and no one seemed to think that was special.

"She loves you and you hate her. Just like when we were kids. Or don't you remember how you and Randie always ditched her?"

"What the hell do I care about things that happened years ago?"

"You really became a jerk when you grew up." Jeff spat back. "You forgot everything about being a kid. You forgot about the tree-house and everyone in it."

Matt sighed. He had forgotten about those days. The days when he didn't loathe hearing Randie Parker's name. It's not like she had contacted him in any way. His family might have been poor, but they had a telephone and she knew the damn number by heart. In his mind, if she cared about him at all, she would have found a way to contact him. No matter how much her father forbid her. She had money. There were payphones. Where ever she was, he was sure she was nothing but a spoiled princess just like Jaycee.

"She's not hanging out with those boys anymore." He would never forget that man words as long as he lived. He'd overheard Randie's father screaming at the top of his lungs as Matt stood ready to knock on their door. He remembered it well. It had been the first time Randie had turned her back on him in school. The first time she pretended like she didn't know him and he had wanted to know why.

Those boys. The man who drank continuously. Who's ever other words was a curse, who jumped from one woman to another in less than a week, thought he was trash. He despised the Parker family. All of them and their kind. Every other soul in town. He grew bitter. Bitter that his mother had died the day after his thirteenth birthday. Bitter that he had to grow up too fast and angry that he had so much responsibility while others his age were out having a good time. He felt like an old man. He acted uninterested in the things the kids at school were doing, but really he envied their complaints. Hated the way they sat around bitching about having to clean their rooms and mow the yard. Yeah, it was so rough for them. So bad he would trade places with them in a heartbeat.

XXX

Randie stared out the window. There was some lightening across the bruised, charcoal-gray clouds. The gloom dripped a chill over her causing her to shudder and embrace herself. She was trapped in that tiny apartment by a padlocked hasp on the outside of the door. And her father had painted the windows shut, she couldn't even go out on the fire escape.

They had left her little food that she had to ration. She ate small amounts once a day, but it wasn't enough to keep her belly from rumbling. She was so hungry that it was getting hard for her to disappear into her fantasy, like she liked to do when things were at their worst. Her family had been gone for two weeks and had given her no indication of when they would return. They hadn't even told her that they were going. Just woke up one morning with suitcases in their hands and walked out the door. She walked to the door behind them only to hear the pad lock snap in place. It wasn't the first time they had locked her in. They had done it every time they left in fact. Whether they were going out on a Friday night or just running to the grocery store. She hadn't been to school since they had left Cheyenna. She hadn't been out of the apartment since they had moved in. She truly was a prisoner. An unwanted, unloved mistake. As the days dragged by, the days got hotter. There was no air conditioner. The room was so muggy she felt like she couldn't breathe and she was convinced that her family was never coming back. That they had left her there to die.

How many times had her father spat those very words to her? How many times had he wished she had never been born? She was so sick of being blamed for everything that went wrong in his life. She just couldn't think of a thing she could have done to deserve the treatment she received every single day. If her only crime was being born, then she didn't see any reason for her to continue being an obedient daughter and she damn she wasn't going to sit around and die just to make that man happy. She picked up the kitchen chair and slung it with all her pent up rage, smashing it through the window. She packed her backpack, slung it over her shoulder and climbed out on the fire escape. She didn't care that the old thing was rusted and swaying. She didn't care that she was five stories above the ground. All she cared about was fresh air, freedom and getting to the one place where she had always felt safe.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

This is my new story idea. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please Review. :)

* * *

Chapter 4

"Let's go, Jeff!" Matt yelled as he gathered book bags and turned off lights on his way out the door. Jeff had been given him a hard time for weeks. "Get up! The bus will be here any minute."

"I'm not going to school today." Jeff turned his back on him and pulled the blanket over his head.

"Fine. Take it up with Dad." Matt didn't have time to deal with Jeff's laziness. "If you're in the same grade next year, don't blame me!" He hurried to get the twins into the truck, making Sloan and Marty get into the back of his truck so he could wait at the end of the long dirt drive way for the bus when Jeff was supposed to wait with them so he could get the twins to daycare. Now he'd have to wait in a long line just to get in the door. This was his routine and it didn't work if just one thing went wrong and sometimes his brothers bucked against him, because he wasn't dad, but dad had to work long hours at the plant to pay the bills.

They had so many bills, the mortgage on the farm, the taxes, the utilities and a whole lot of doctors and hospital bills to pay even though they hadn't been able to save his mother's life. He often wondered if more would have been done if they had had insurance. He remembered how tired his mother had seemed that last summer and then how quickly she had faded after going to the hospital. They'd said she had cancer and that there was no hope. He'd heard of other people getting cancer and they had been treated. They were alive and well. He guessed that was just for people who had money and that made him hate the people around him even more.

Cheyenna was full of rich people or at least middle classed. They didn't struggle like his family did and they often made snide remarks about his family. They believed that poor people where poor because they were lazy. There was no other explanation for it in this day and age. Funny. Matt thought that they were the lazy ones. They didn't have to do as much as he did in a day. They didn't' have to roll out of bed before the sun rose. Hell, some days he didn't even lay his head on his pillow until well after midnight.

He dozed off in study hall, his head propped up on his hand. He was so far gone that he didn't even hear the bell ring, but he did feel the hands that touched his shoulders. It had felt like a gentle massage and made him let out a sigh. But when he opened his eyes, there was no one there. So he guessed he had imagined it.

It was lunch time, so he hurried to the cafeteria and joined the shortest line. Which was always the bagged lunch line. He provided a yellow ticket that he hated. It seemed he was the only kid in school that received free lunch, but he had to eat. So he grabbed the bag that contained the sub of the day, an apple and a bag of chips, then he grabbed a milk from the ice chest nearby and hurried outside to his favorite spot.

All the classrooms had outside doors and they were all recessed into the exterior brick of the building, giving each a small alcove. There was one that was hidden by overgrown hedges and he liked the privacy. It was the only time he had to himself and he looked forward to it every day.

"Leave me alone, Logan."

Matt groaned. Some couple had decided to pause right in front of his spot to have one of their quarrels.

"Don't you ever call me that again!" Logan Mitchell. The mayor's kid. The football captain and quarterback. The privileged rich kid made Matt sick. He hated him. "You embarrassed me in front of all my friends!"

"Owe. That hurts, Logan." The girl screeched.

Matt didn't know what was said before they had stopped in front of him, but the girl must have said something insulting because the next thing Matt knew the girl was shoved through the hedges by the tight grasp Logan had on both her upper arms. He slammed her into the door then struck her cheek with an open palm.

"Hey!" Matt couldn't help it. He was on his feet and in Logan's face before he had time to think.

"It's none of your business, Hardy!"

"You don't put your hands on a woman. Look how much bigger you are than her!" Matt screamed and gave the guy's chest a hard shove. "Why don't you try that shit out on me, Mitchell?"

"She's not worth the time." Logan smirked. "She's nothing but a whore anyway."

It was just one more reason not to like Logan Mitchell. He had always thought the guy was an ass, but it turned out he was abusive to girls too. And the whole town thought he was the greatest just because he could play football. Well, if Matt's life was different, he knew he would be running circles around that fool.

He turned and saw the girl sitting in the corner, hugging her knees and sobbing. He didn't know what hurt her more, the slap or Logan calling her a whore. Her shoulders shook and she gasped for breath.

He knew who she was even though she hid her face. The ankle length dress gave her away.

Randie Parker. Her family had stayed in town after that summer. Her father rented a house in town, but it had been six months before Randie had come to join them. He had never known where she had been all that time, but when she arrived at school, he knew she wasn't the same little girl he had known. She even had to dress like a princess. Wearing nice church dresses when the other girls wore jeans. Yet, she was still one of the prettiest girls in school. Well, her good girl style didn't impress him. She was stuck up. A rich bitch who thought she was too good to associate with him. She's the one who thought she was too above him to even speak to him in public. Even telling him they couldn't be friends when he tried to say hello on her first day.

"Randie?" He knelt beside her and touched her shoulder. She sniffed back tears and turned her head away so he couldn't see her face. Seeing her like that, after another childhood memory of her had plagued his dreams the night before, just softened him.

She answered by throwing her arms around his neck and collapsing against him. He breathed in the scent of her hair. It smelled like a summer rain, but it didn't do anything for him. Neither did her the feel of her long, wavy strawberry blonde locks. Those big blue eyes weren't that amazing. He didn't want to touch that perfect complexion and he didn't want to lay his lips on those full pouty lips.

Geeze, the girl had not been single a day since she'd stepped through the high school doors. She'd been with Logan since day one and he was a senior. He'd heard things about her too. That she gave it up easily to more than just Logan. He had no reason to believe that they weren't true. He'd seen her walking down the hall with Logan's buddies more than a few times and they always seemed to have their hands on her. Especially when she and Logan broke up which was almost a weekly thing. That's probably what their fight had been about.

He tilted her chin and wiped away the runny mascara from her cheeks. Oh, who was he kidding? She was beautiful. He'd always thought so.

"This place is kind of like that old fig tree." She sniffed back her tears and gave a little laugh.

"Yeah, I guess it is." He smiled.

"Sometimes, I wish I could go back." She whispered, then got up and left.

"Me too." Matt whispered and sighed, knowing that could never happen. Growing up brought too much knowledge and too many truths. Things that just couldn't be undone. And the veil of innocence had long been lifted from his eyes. Especially where Randie Parker was concerned.

XXX

Randie was met by brutal shove the moment she got home from school. The force had sent her stumbling and her side landed on the corner of a nearby end table.

"What were you doing with Matt Hardy?" Her father growled. She didn't answer. Only lowered her eyes to the floor. She wasn't allowed to talk to Matt. From the moment he'd brought her back to Cheyenna. Even at school she wasn't safe. Not with Jaycee waiting, watching and hoping she'd give her a reason to run home and tell.

But things were slightly better. He had to be careful because her Aunt Peg stopped in often. She was always sweet to her and always brought her gifts. Clothes and trinkets that Jaycee couldn't claim. The jewelry because her aunt would point it out if she saw it on Jaycee and the clothes because her father insisted that she keep her legs covered by long skirts and she wore a thin sweater at all times to cover the bruises. But she had to make her aunt think it was the style of clothing she preferred. Any altercation would only lead to them packing up and moving again.

Boys at school seemed to like her. They were always asking her out. Always trying to talk to her, but she didn't understand why. She wasn't obese, but she wasn't tiny like Jaycee and she the dresses she wore didn't exactly show off her curves. But she couldn't talk to them. Actually, she had become frightened by men, especially the very tall or very muscular ones. And it was easy to turn them down, because her father didn't allow her to date. Until he found out about Logan's interest. Logan Mitchell had money and her father loved money. Telling her she'd regret it if she screwed it up with him.

That day at school, he'd tried to unbutton her blouse in front of all of his friends. She had brushed him off and the word pig had slipped out of her mouth. She hadn't said it very loud, but it had been enough to anger him. That was the first time he had struck her, just when she had started to think he might protect her. He had been nice up until then, but she had refused him the night before and she guessed he was getting tired of it. He had been mean and disrespectful towards her the entire day.

"I asked you a question!" her father pulled her to her feet by a clump of her hair. "What were you doing with that boy?" She could only sob and shake. Any answer she gave would only make him angrier. He shoved her aside with obvious disgust. "That boy is nothing but trouble. He's lives in dump and comes from trash. He's a lazy bum!"

"He's not." She meekly defended before she had time to think.

"What did you say?" her father was shocked by her insolence.

"He's not lazy." She whispered, her gaze on the floor. "He works hard and he's kind."

"Oh is he now?"

Whap!

She took a hard blow to the face and surely would have gotten more if the doorbell hadn't interrupted. A police officer stood at the door and for the first time in her life, she saw fear in her father's eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

This is my new story idea. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please Review. :)

* * *

Chapter 5

Matt turned sixteen the following month and it felt like sixty. He woke up with a sore, stiff back, his feet throbbed all the time and he felt like he never slept. He didn't even have time for a girlfriend. No girl peeked his interest and he'd only been intimate a hand full of times, yet he had five kids needing something from him every five minutes. Somedays it frustrated him. His only indulgence was seeing Randie at school and for a moment he would let himself daydream. He'd think about what it would be like to date her, to spend Friday nights talking to her instead of bagging groceries. He imagined walking hand in hand with her in the halls, driving to and from school together. It was a nice dream and having it would have brought something normal to his young life, but Randie didn't speak to him. Her gaze wouldn't even fall on him, but she was the only girl that he couldn't get off his mind. The only one that he gave more than glance to. Maybe childhood friendship had a lot to do with it. He knew she wasn't the same girl but still, those feeling were so embedded that he couldn't dismiss her, no matter how stuck up she had become. So, one day, he just walked up to her in the hall.

"Stay away from me, Matt." She'd said. She wouldn't even lift her eyes to look at him.

"Come on, Randie. You used to be really good friends."

"I can't be friends with you." She'd whispered. "I – I don't ever want to talk to you again. It's bad enough that I have to see you. Don't make it worse."

It cut him deep. The wound she inflicted had been so deep that he grew angry. He loathed her. Hated that she became so involved with her own kind that she forgot about him and how they used to be. She had even seemed embarrassed that they had once been friends. Even stood with Logan and his rich friends as they made fun of him and laughed. There was no doubt in his mind that she was one of them and the feelings he'd once felt faded away, replaced by contempt. He was glad when she stopped coming to school. He counted down the days to graduation, glad to be rid of all his classmates. It didn't matter that they were the same age. Mentally, he was years older. His life had caused that and his family was all that mattered. He went to school, he worked and he took care of his family. That was his life. All there would ever be. He didn't want or need anyone else in it.

Soon, he couldn't ignore the remarks people in town would mutter as he passed. His family was poor. No better than criminals. He was worthless. He knew it, accepted it and went on with his life. He got used to people watching him when he shopped in their stores. All of them thought he would steal if they didn't follow him. He got used to how they looked at him in his faded, old clothes and how they turned up their noses as if he smelled. He guessed it had always been that way, he just hadn't been as aware of it.

To make matters worse, the cough his father had kept for nearly a year got worse. So bad that he ended up in the hospital and ended up out of work for nearly a month. So, Matt took a part time job after school to help pay the bills and he never let it go, making Jeff have to sit home and take care of their younger siblings. Jeff complained about it but he did what had to be done, just as Matt had after their mother died.

Things didn't get better for them. Matt held onto that job hoping it would give them extra money, but his father's health condition made him miss more and more days of work. So much that he was forced to take part time hours at the plant.

When Matt turned eighteen he started working the evening shift at the plant. Then as if the respiratory illness wasn't enough, his father's back, that had ached him for years, started going out, leaving him unable to walk and in extreme pain. A few months after that, his father couldn't work at all. He could barely walk, depending on a wheelchair most of the time and that brought even more hospital and doctor bills.

XXX

Anna and Jaycee had gotten into a bad car wreck. When the cops gave them the news, her father seemed almost relieved as if he had expected something else. But Randie couldn't imagine news that would be worse than finding out that their family members had been plowed into by a drunk driver.

Jaycee's injuries were slight. She'd come out of the collision with a broken arm and few cuts that she cried about because she feared they would leave scars behind, but they weren't sure if Anna would pull through. Jaycee had been driving so Anna took a direct hit by the truck that had run the red light. She was in intensive care for nearly two months, then in the hospital for a long time after.

When she came home, she was fine, but in a wheel chair and Randie was pulled out of school.

XXX

"Hey big brother. I got supper tonight. If you don't mind hot dogs." It was Matt's night off and it was unusual for Jeff to want to do anything, as if he thought Matt's night off was his night off from babysitting. "What's got you so happy?"

"Jeff's got a girlfriend." Marty, Jeff's little clone, said in a sing song manner from the kitchen table.

"Hush up you little troll." Jeff shot back at his shadow.

"A girlfriend?"

"Maggie from the bus." Marty snickered. "He sits with her and holds her hand and licks her ear. Gross."

"You lick her ear?"

"I do not." Jeff spat, his ears and cheeks turning three shades of red. Jeff had had girls following him around since grade school. Jeff was the cute one, the old gossips in town would say whenever they were in town together and Matt was the muscle. Well at least he was good for something. He still worked out every morning. It relieved stress and he had a body builder's frame by the age of twelve.

"Maybe he's blowing in it and she giggles a lot. It's still gross." Sloan added. He was the milder of the younger brothers. Acting more like Matt who was way too serious most of the time. Sloan bore the dark hair and eyes as well, but was almost too skinny for his age. He preferred books and science stuff to anything the other boys enjoyed. He didn't care for wrestling or playing in the mud. And he didn't like racing of any kind and he had no interest in the weight bench when Matt tried to show him how to use it. The kid's biggest want was a computer. Something Matt knew they could never afford to give him.

"You better go get your baths." Jeff scolded the younger boys who loved to tease him about girls, then the phone rang and Jeff ran to get to it before anyone else and he stayed on that phone talking nonsense, annoying Matt with the long phone cord that he about wrapped around him a dozen times while he tried to get his homework done at the kitchen table. He began to think that it might be easier for him to cook dinner himself, but at least Jeff was helping.

"Randie's at the door!" Cory came running into the kitchen. It was still odd for Matt to see one twin without the other, but they weren't three anymore and were starting to enjoy different things. At that moment, Cory was watching television in the living room and Cameron was in his room playing with his building blocks.

"Better go let your girlfriend in, Matt." Jeff snickered.

"She's not my girl." Matt snapped. "She's too young for me anyway."

"Then how come every time you see her your eyes are glued to her rear when she leaves."

"I think you're talking about your eyes, little brother."

Jeff just flipped him off, turned his back on him and went back to his phone call.

"Damn it, Jeff, you boiled all the water out of the pan!" And it pissed him off. The hot dogs laid on the bottom sizzling and split. "Everything else is frozen. What the hell are we going to do about dinner now!"

He stomped towards the door sure that Randie was just dropping off a bottle for another of their father's deals. Despite Jeff's teasing, he actually hadn't set eyes on Randie in some time. So long in fact that he couldn't' remember the last time he'd seen her, but he did remember how she had treated him and he wasn't interested in seeing her at that moment.

She stood outside the screen door patiently. "You could have let her in, Cory. Geeze." He kicked past the toys on the floor, irritated with all of his younger brothers. "And you better get this mess to your room before dad gets home. He slipped out the screen door. Randie stood there with a crock pot in her hands and two backpacks over her shoulder. Time had only made Randie prettier and he guessed every guy in town still wanted to be her boyfriend and he was sure most them already had been.

"What … what's going on?"

Randie shrugged and they both turned toward the van that pulled in the drive. Matt slipped past her and ran down the steps to help get his father off the wheel chair elevator. He wheeled him up the ramp he'd built over the steps. Randie put down the crock pot and opened the door.

"Randie is staying with us a few nights." His father said right before going into a coughing fit. "Her parents had to leave in a hurry."

"Your father? Sent you here?" After he forbid her from hanging out with those boys? Those poor trash, trouble making boys? Matt didn't believe it. Randie seemed as confused as Matt did.

"And when was all of this arranged?" He asked as he wheeled his father in.

"He called the house this morning."

"What's this?" He turned to see Randie following him in with the crock pot in her hands again. "Um, barbeque? I cooked it for our supper tonight. I don't know if you guys like it or not, but no one will be back to eat it before it spoils at my house."

"Are you kidding? I haven't had barbeque in ages." His father smiled broader than he had in years. "If she makes it anything like her mama did, you boys are going to beg me to adopt her." He patted Matt on the back.

"I brought some buns too." She put down her bags and pulled out a couple bags of hamburger buns.

"Anything is better than Jeff's cooking," Matt spat just loud enough for his brother to hear.

"Get off that phone." His father only had to speak once for the boys to act. Jeff hung up real quick and began to sit plates on the table.

"Sloan get another chair," He ordered his ten year old. "This smells real good, Randie. You said you cooked this?"

"Yes sir. I put the roast in before school this morning."

"You do all the cooking at your house?" Matt wondered as he fixed a sandwich and cut it in half for the twins to share. The chip on his shoulder about Randie had only grown. That day at school had been the last time she'd spoke to him.

"Most days, during the week. But it's mostly crock pot meals. Anna cooks on the weekends, when she's off work. I don't' think I'll ever be able to cook like she does."

"I heard Anna went back to work. I guess she's doing well now?"

"She limps, but yes."

"This is just like your mother's." Matt's father closed his eyes and savored every single bite, but Matt could tell that it bothered Randie a little to hear about her mother. He didn't think she'd seen her since she'd left. And many years had gone by since. Matt's Dad often said that Randie would have been better off with her mother, but he never elaborated. His father never did speak much about the affairs of people outside their home. He wasn't into gossip.

"It's the only thing she made that I can remember." Randie gave a weak smile. Seemed it was all she could muster. Maybe she forced it to try not to be rude. Matt couldn't believe that she could think any more of them than her father did. It must have been torture for her to have to stay with them. Maybe her father sent her there as some kind of punishment.

"Matt after supper, I want you to dig out one of those big comforters from the hall closet and some sheets. I wish we had another room for you to use Randie, but our old couch is comfortable. Matt sure seems to pass out on it pretty quickly."

"It's fine." Randie said politely. "Thank you for letting me stay."

"Neighbors should help when they can." Then he exchanged a knowing look with Matt. Both knew that Randie's father would never return the favor if the tables were turned, but Matt's father was an old fashioned guy with simple old fashioned values. He'd help anyone he could even if the Randie's family wasn't exactly their neighbors anymore.

Randie helped Jeff clean up the kitchen then she sat at the table to do her homework while Matt went over the finances for the week. They exchanged uncomfortable glances here and there until the Sloan came running in with his school workbook.  
"I don't get it." Sloan whined even twenty minutes after Matt tried to show him. "It's too hard."

"Sloan, maybe I can help so your big brother can finish his work?"

"He's no help anyway."

Matt pinched the bridge of his nose, but he was thankful that Randie took over. He felt like his brain was going to explode. His eyes hurt and the back of his head throbbed. He barely understood his own work, barely made it to graduation and he constantly had to help his little brothers with stuff he didn't remember doing in their grade.

"Oh! I see it." Sloan was jotting down answers easily after just five minutes then Randie opened a book and stuck her nose in it. It frustrated him how easy it was for the girl.

"What is that? Some romance book?" he said in a smart assed tone.

"Reading list." She shrugged. "It's boring, but I have to read it if I want to be a senior next year."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Yeah, I bet you have your own tutor too." He snapped. He knew that Randie was homeschooled, something only rich kids got to do. He ignored her the rest of the time as he balanced the money he had been paid and tried to figure out which bills he would spend it on.

"I can't do this anymore. All these numbers are running together." He was just too tired to concentrate. "I feel like watching some television before bed. I mean unless you're ready to sleep." His father had already gone to bed and they only owned one television and it was in the living room where Randie would be sleeping on the couch.

"I'm fine." She had put her books away in her school bag and grabbed some clothes from the other.

"Bathrooms in there." He pointed toward the door, then headed to make sure the twins were in there beds and not up playing. He always had to tell Sloan when to turn out his light so he wouldn't wake up Marty who initially fell asleep easy, but would be up all night if he was woken up. The older the boys got, the harder it was for them to share that tiny room.

When he came out Randie was on the sofa, the sheets he'd laid out spread over it and the comforter still folded neatly at the end. He sat down on the floor because they didn't have any other furniture besides the sofa.

"You don't have sit on the floor."

"I don't want to keep you awake."

"I'm not ready to sleep yet."

Matt shrugged and sat on the end of the couch with her and she sat down right beside him. She wore an old fashioned night gown. It was a thin white material that reached all the way to her ankles, but the top was a tank top style with lace made of the same cotton material as the gown and it buttoned from the waist up. He couldn't help but notice the first two buttons as they slipped free of the worn out holes, giving him a peek at the bra she wore beneath. He guessed she only wore it because she was a guest in a home full of men. He didn't think any girl would wear a bra to bed normally.

That white lacey bra stayed on his mind through the entire show he tried to focus on. Not to mention the cleavage that poked out that made his manhood throb, reminding him that he was human and he began to wonder just how many of the rumors about Randie were true. It had been a while since he'd hooked up with a girl. He still didn't have time for a girlfriend but every now and then he found someone willing to give up a quick roll in the sheets.

Randie laughed at the comedy on the screen and she didn't notice that he'd placed his arm around her shoulders until he tilted her chin his way and pressed his lips against hers. When she didn't push away, he maneuvered her body so she was beneath him. She did nothing to deter him even when his hands touched her breasts. She didn't even mind that some of the buttons popped off her gown when he undid them so he could dip his hand beneath the bra she wore.

He fondled her breasts, wrapped his mouth around her nipples and pulled her legs around his waist, pressing his hardness against her. He was hungry. Starved to point that it wasn't safe for him to be alone with any girl. Even if the one beside him was still in high school. There wasn't that big a difference in their age. Damn sure wasn't enough of a gap to stop him from taking all she would let him have, which was everything.

He did little more than pull off his shirt, undo his pants and pull her panties to the side to get what he wanted. Yes, he was using her. Yes, it was nothing more than sex, but Randie was the type who obviously slept around, so he didn't feel guilty about it and he finally understood why the guys liked her so much. It wasn't because she was pretty. It was because she was so hot and so tight that it made him bite his own lip to keep from moaning too loud. He'd had a half dozen women, but he'd never experienced anything like it before.

"Why are you leaving so early?" Matt was already up and dressed by the time Jeff woke up.

"I work days now, remember?" Matt had managed to win a first shift maintenance position at the plant the week before and Jeff began to get up early to feed the animals before school.

"Your shift starts at eight. It's four a.m." Jeff pointed at the clock.

"Mind your business." Matt spat, grabbed his keys from the nightstand and walked out of the room they shared. He didn't want to be around when Randie woke up. He didn't want to face her or have the 'we're not a couple' conversation with her. He already knew that wasn't a possibility. Besides he couldn't afford to keep her happy even if she would agree to date him. Yet, there childhood past kept him from accepting reality.

She was gone by the time he got off work. Her Aunt, who had been visiting a sister out of town, came home early and showed up to collect her first thing according to his father. Logan Mitchell's car was in the neighbor's driveway when he passed by. He felt a little jealous, a little mad, but shrugged it off. He'd sat at the diner that morning sipping coffee and thinking. He thought about his past and the night before, but he knew the moment he saw that shiny red sports car that he'd only wanted that shit because sex with her had felt so good. No wonder Logan Mitchell stayed around. She'd probably end up marrying the jerk.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

This is my new story idea. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please Review. :)

* * *

Chapter 6

Randie never asked him about that night and every time he saw her after that, he didn't reference it or act like they had ever been intimate. In fact, every time he saw her in town, she was with her dad, her stepmom or Logan. She may have glanced his way, but pretty much acted like she didn't know him. It infuriated him and made him think even less about her than he had before.

XXX

That night with Matt meant the world to Randie. Matt acted so hateful towards her that she was sure that he hated her. In fact, he had made that clear every time he looked at her, every time he spoke to her., but when he had touched her it had been so gentle. His kiss had felt as wonderful as it had all those years before. And she couldn't deny him. She refused to deny him, no matter what consequences followed.

She saw him from time to time. In the grocery store, the gas station, but he glowered at her. His eyebrows would narrow and his lip would curl up in disgust. She could see the bitterness in his eyes, so much that even if she could sneak away from whoever she was with, she didn't think she would be able to tell him she was pregnant.

It was like she had been given a gift. At night she'd lay in the closet that she used as a bedroom and rubbed the baby that had barely begun to form a bump in her belly, thinking of its father. Even though he didn't know, she felt as if her secret was their secret. No one knew, but she knew one day it would be obvious. But she would deal with whatever came because she couldn't think of anything she wanted more than Matt's child.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Her father still insisted that she go out with Logan. Every date was the same with Logan taking her straight to some secluded backroad by the lake. He would climb over the shifter, lay back her seat and drop down upon her.

"I'm not ready." She whispered, but honestly she couldn't stand Logan's touch. Even when he tried to make love to her, his touch was violent and she feared one day he wouldn't stop when she begged him to. She hated Logan. She hated his kiss and she hated being labeled as his girl.

So far, she hadn't endured anything that would cause harm to her unborn child, but she feared each beating and protected her belly, letting her face absorb every strike. Her face usually looked so horrible that she couldn't leave the house. Actually, she was forbidden to leave the house and the padlocks returned. She seemed to always do something to anger her father and Logan had decided that beating her each time she refused would make her want to give in to him.

Her belly only grew slightly, but it was still growing. Her dresses helped to hide it but she knew time was running out. She didn't believe her father would kill an unborn child, but she knew what kind of man he was. She knew he was the type of man who would take her child and sell it to the highest bidder and her baby would end up who knows where. That had been her father's whole plan with Logan since the day he found out he was interested. She began to make plans. She hid every stray dollar she found lying around the house. She had never been a thief but when it came to the safety of her child, she felt she had no choice when she slipped twenty dollar bills out of the stack that Logan liked to sit in his cup holder. Logan was the type that threw money around. He never really knew how much he had and he loved for people to see that he had money. She thought it was dangerous, but in that time in her life she was glad Logan was a moron.

She'd collected over fifteen hundred dollars in less than a month, but she wasn't sure when she would have the chance to flee. She waited and waited for a time when no one was looking. But it seemed someone was always watching, but she kept waiting and picking up loose change that no she knew no one would miss. She still hadn't figured out where she would go. She didn't know what she was going to do after the baby was born. Where would she live? What if she was alone when the baby wanted to come into this world? She was so scared and the beatings didn't stop. They came more often and more brutal.

XXX

It was a hot day in those fields. Matt wiped the sweat away from his brow and looked up at the sun. It was too hot to continue working, but he knew he wouldn't find much relief indoors. He looked toward the tree line. It had been a long time since he'd taken off to the river. He walked by that old tree house. Marty spent most of his days there now and he'd been there a few times making repairs. He didn't want Marty getting hurt on something he'd built when he was a child. That combined with age was a bad combination.

He went to the deep part of the river where he had swam with Jeff and his friends. It still looked the same. The same big rock sat in the middle and the same water rushed over a bed of rocks from the narrow stream. He heard a splash as he took off his shirt. The fish liked to jump there. Some of the biggest bass he'd ever seen lived in that deep pool.

He jumped in. The initial shock of its temperature made him gasp, but it felt good. He dove under the water again, swimming as far under water as he could before coming up again, then he floated on his back for a while. The water felt good on his sore muscles and he gazed up at the sky. It was a beautiful day. The sky was a perfect blue and the sounds of nature around him made him forget about his stress. He'd become so bitter, so angry at life that he had become blind to what was good around him.

He heard another noise. Beneath the water and it wasn't the sound of a fish jumping. He raised his head and his eyes noticed that he was alone. He watched a girl in white pop up from under the water. She smoothed back her hair and her gaze fell on him.

He tried to ignore her, but every time he gazed her way, she was looking his. He watched her walk towards the shore. Her dress completely translucent as she emerged.

He ran his tongue over his bottom lip as his eyes traced her body. Matt had had a lot of long nights. It was extremely hot. They didn't have an air conditioner and the fans were doing nothing but blowing hot air around the room and he couldn't stop thinking about that night with Randie. He craved one more taste of her flesh. It seemed that the more he thought about what he'd done with Randie, the more he wanted to have her again and he had to take a cold shower just so he could get to sleep. Or maybe it wasn't Randie at all. Maybe he just needed sex.

He joined her on that bank. Walking up behind her as reached for that sweater she always wore, not matter how hot it was.

He pulled her close and touched his lips to her neck.

"Matt."

"Damn you taste so good." He let slip as his tongue traced her neck. Then her turned her and closed his mouth down upon hers. Her body fell against his. Her hands touching his chest and her tongue returning his passion. He picked her up, pulling her legs around his waist as he laid her on the damp ground. He made short work of her clothes and his own. Just like the first time, she didn't reject his advances, allowing him to take whatever he wanted from her.

He'd found other woman to fulfill his need since they had been together, but none of them seemed to satisfy him. Not after being with Randie and the second time with her was no different. It felt so good that he took his time, wanting to enjoy it as long as he possibly could, until he had completely exhausted himself.

He laid on his back afterwards, trying to catch his breath. Randie laid her head on his chest, her hand softly caressed the lines of his six pack. For a moment, he let him fantasize, pretend like they had done all those years before. They were just playing house and there were no dividing lines. No responsibilities. No illnesses and they didn't hate each other.

"I didn't know you still came here." He said, his fingers toying with her wet hair.

"I came to see Aunt Peg and I missed it."

"Me too." He agreed."

"I shouldn't stay long." She whispered so meekly he had barely heard her. She was talking even softer that before it seemed.

"Yeah, I got to get going myself." He still had a lot to do and childish games were an unaffordable waste of his time. The boys needed lunch, Jeff would be leaving to meet his friends soon and he had to check on his father. He liked to let Jeff take off with his friends when he had the weekends off. He didn't want his little brother's youth to be completely lost like his own had been.

He sat up and pulled on his shorts. It hurt that she was in such a hurry to get away from him, then decided he didn't care and resumed. Why should he care? Her kind thought he was dirt. She had made that perfectly clear every time he saw her in public. Turning that dainty little nose in the air. She was probably between guys. Or else she wouldn't have let him touch her.

"Here." He tossed her the shirt he had discarded. Her dress was wet and covered with mud and grass. She slipped the shirt on, then she stood in front of him for a moment, like she was waiting for him to say something, wanted him to say something particular.

"I guess I'll see you … when I see you." What else could he say? She was a great screw? He hoped she let him screw her again sometime?

"I better go." She sounded almost sad. "I'll bring the shirt back."

"Why don't you keep the shirt?" He said fingering the sleeve a bit.

Matt had to admit that she looked pretty good in his tee shirt. She smiled, and her tongue ran over her bottom lip. Then she gave him a quick peck on the cheek and ran off. Matt let out a slow deep breath as he watched her disappear into the woods towards her Aunt and Uncles home, then he retrieved his shoes and hurried toward his house. He'd already been gone too long and he hoped his father wasn't already worried.

XXX

"I guess you only like laying down with trash." Logan breathed in Randie's ear. He'd snuck up behind her. Grabbing her arm so violently she could already feel her skin bruising.

She didn't say anything. Actually, she had stopped talking to most people all together. He spun her to face him. "Hardy? Randie. Really?" Logan snarled. His grey eyes looked like they were made of ice as he towered over here. "That greasy headed low life? You would rather lay down with a guy like Matt Hardy than me?" He must have been watching her with Matt and it made her feel sick that someone had violate such an intimate, private moment of her life.

She should have expected the hard shove that knocked to her to her back, but it had caught her off guard. He'd expected him to say he was done. To walk out of her wanting nothing more to do with her, but instead she was pinned by his heavy frame, struggling to get away. His slaps were harder than any before and he tore off the tee shirt she wore with one quick movement.

"Do you know how embarrassing this is for me? Huh?" He spit as he screamed in her face. "Here I thought I had some virginal Mary and what I really have is a whore that lays with swine!" He pulled out a large knife, touched the point to her cheek.

She brought her knee up, connecting and disorienting him enough to slip away. She ran towards the river, hoping that Matt was still there or not far away, but she tripped on a branch and Logan was on top of her again.

"You made a fool out of me!" He growled. "Girls like you don't deserve to be so damn pretty."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

This is my new story idea. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please Review. :)

* * *

Chapter 7

"Randie, Oh my goodness. Sweetie?"

Randie laid discarded in the shallow water of the river. She awoke to a woman's sweet worried voice. Her Aunt Peg was on her knees beside her, wiping strands of bloody hair away from her face.

Randie stirred. Her face hurt. Her arms hurt, but thankfully she felt no pain in her abdomen. She held her belly as her aunt helped her to her knees. She touched her face. There was so much blood that it was in her eyes and her mouth. She felt the sting of fresh cuts she had no idea how bad her wounds were but her Aunt's panicked expression hinted.

She laid in a bed in the emergency room that night. She had over fifty stitches in her face and the doctors said that thankfully most of her wounds were superficial. She didn't understand how people could be so cruel. She thought she'd made it obvious that she didn't want to be with Logan. She'd told him so. She'd made it clear that she only dated him because her father made her. Yet, he still insisted on coming around. It didn't seem fair that she couldn't choose who she wanted to be with.

Her father was angry when he showed up. He blamed her. He called her so many horrible names and spewed out many threats. She didn't care. She was numb from the pain and she'd refused pain medicine and she'd had to admit to the nurse that she was pregnant. But only her Aunt Peg had been present and her father left, abandoning her and demanding she find her own way home before any of the medical staff could come and possibly reveal her secret.

She hugged Matt's tee shirt close to her body. It was stained with her blood, but it still smelled like him. Her aunt returned bringing some of her own clothes for Randie to wear.

"I thought you might want this." She set Randie's purse down on nearby table. Then she sat on the edge of the bed and caressed Randie's hair.

"You think I'm a horrible person too now." Randie sobbed. Her Aunt had always thought so much of her and she thought she would feel differently after learning about her pregnancy.

"I was pregnant at your age." She smiled. "But it wasn't meant to be." Her Aunt was the only person she could remember showing her kindness besides the woman she had thought was her mother. "Having a baby when you're young doesn't make you a bad person."

"Daddy will never let me keep my baby." She didn't have to explain her fears to her aunt. She didn't' have to tell her that her father would either cause her to miscarry or start looking for a buyer for the child as soon as he heard the news.

"Miss. Parker. We're taking you for an ultrasound now." A nurse came in and helped her into a wheelchair. Her Aunt accompanied her and she laid her eyes on her baby for the first time. Her baby girl. She was so tiny and her hands and feet had yet to develop, but she was beautiful.

"You know, when you turn seventeen, you can live where ever you want and there is nothing your father can do about it." Her Aunt smiled as they awaited her discharge papers, then she stuffed a handful of hundred dollar bills, a bus ticket and an address in her hand. "Run baby." She kissed her forehead. "Run."

XXX

Matt started his truck. He'd worked a double shift and he was so tired he wasn't sure if he'd make it home. He backed out of the parking lot, glad that his home was only ten minutes away, but when he put it the truck in drive, something stuck under his wiper caught his attention.

"Damn flyers." He muttered. Someone was always putting shit under his wiper. He put the vehicle in park, stepped out and pulled it out of his line of vision. The last thing he needed was a ticket if the thing should dislodge and fly off while he was going down the road.

He took a quick glance in the streetlights glow and his face screwed up in confusion. An ultrasound picture? And there was something written in the small white border at the bottom. He flipped on the interior light of his truck. "I've always been yours" With a little heart written in red ink.

Someone's idea of a joke. He'd always been careful. Always wore protection. Well, accept with one. Randie. The first time had been five months before and her belly would have grown a bit by then and the last time was the day before. Far too soon to know if a baby had been made.

He tossed the paper into his glove box. His coworkers had a sick sense of humor and knew about that temp he had messed around with, but she was already pregnant when they had gotten together. Not far along enough to tell, but she had told him before they had hooked up. He thought about the words again. Yeah, it was another one of their jokes. They always loved to get a laugh at his expense.

He didn't see Randie after that. He'd heard that she had ran away. Heard she had ran off with some older guy. He heard that her father had sent her to some kind of boarding school which must have been true because no one had called the law to report her missing. . Six months went by and thoughts of her never entered his mind. Or he hadn't let himself think about her even though it did feel odd not seeing her around. It was only at night that he would think about her, when there was nothing else to distract him. He wondered why of all the girls he knew, why she was the only one that he thought of. Most all his memories of her were from childhood. He remembered how they had laughed and joked while pretending to do household chores in that old treehouse and it made him wonder if they would be that way as adults. Some days he was tempted to tear down that stupid thing. To erase the very last thing that triggered his memories. And he would have if Marty didn't love it so much.

The things he thought was silly. Of course it was easy to believe it was all fun and sunshine back then. Kids didn't know the stresses of adult life. Adults had fights. Adults had responsibilities and real marriage wasn't about love. It was a partnership. It was finding that one person to go through hell with that you didn't want to kill every day. It was about having someone to help with the everyday chores of life so one person wasn't stuck with it all.

That's what he decided he needed. He couldn't keep up with the house and watching the kids. He needed someone to help with laundry and cooking. Someone who wouldn't mind watching out for his father. That's all a marriage was really about and he knew of a few girls who weren't blessed – at all. He thought of Carrie Middleton and Joanie Wilson first. The girls voted most likely to become old maids because of their homely appearances. They were cousins who had grown up as sisters on the only other farm in town, but they both looked and acted like men. That was the only thing he found unattractive about them. But they knew hard work. They knew how hard life could be even though they're family wasn't as poor as his. He decided that night that he would ask Joanie out because she worked as a maid at the plant and he saw her every day. Carrie he really didn't know at all and had heard that she preferred women to men.

He was off the following weekend and he had planned his date with Carrie for that Saturday night.

"You have to stay home Saturday." He'd told Jeff early in the week so he wouldn't make plans. Jeff worked days on the weekends so he could be free for his own dates. "I have a date."

"You? You're joking?"

"Despite what you guys think, I am not a robot and I do need female companionship from time to time." Matt told him.

"With who?" Matt had never taken any girl on a date before and his news made them all stop eating dinner that night. Even the twins gawked at him with open mouths full of food.

"Carrie Middleton."

Jeff started laughing.

"Where are you taking her? The Pit?" The Pit was a bar that had a big ring in the center where the customers came to fight each other. "Oh I know, you're taking her to the fair so you can get in half price. They'll probably think you're with the bearded lady from that freak show."

"Shut up." Matt warned, even though he wasn't looking forward to it himself. All week long Carrie had been punching his arm as she passed him. Saying how she couldn't wait for their date and calling him her buddy.

When Saturday arrived, he put on his nicest pair of jeans. His father's old dress jacket and pulled his shoulder length hair into a neat pony tail.

Carrie looked like she did every day when he picked her up. Her apple shaped body was covered with men's jeans and a flannel shirt just like it was at work. Her short mousey brown hair was combed to look like a boys bowl cut and she didn't apply a bit of makeup to her blotchy pale skin, but he remembered his mother's words. Beauty is on the inside. Even the prettiest packages can contain a venomous snake. So he kept an open mind.

He took her to a nice restaurant. Or the nicest he could afford which was basically a family steak house with a cheap all you can eat buffet which seemed to please Carrie who came back from the bar with her first plate piled so high it was dripping off the sides. She also talked with her mouth full, smacked on every bite and even reached across the table to snag a piece of cantaloupe off his plate. He thought she was trying to be cute, but her attempt left him nauseous the moment he saw the dirty fingernail of her stumpy finger touch his food.

"Well, look what just walked in." She stared behind him and he had to turn around to see what she was talking about. A group of girls that they had both gone to school with walked in. "I figured that group would have broken up by now." She cackled. "Geeze, attached at the hip, still clones of each other. Smiling to each other's faces and probably still screwing each other's boyfriends behind their backs."

"Maybe." Matt agreed, then went back to his meal. The group was shown by the hostess to a table in the same section as his.

"Oh great. There goes my appetite." Carrie said so loud that the people sitting next to them all turned to look.

Matt glanced at the group. They looked the same. Same designer clothes. Same designer hand bags. Probably still paying with their daddy's credit cards.

"Why don't you just go sit with them?" Carrie spat hatefully.

"What?"

"You can't take your eyes off of them. I'm sure that starved bony look is more appealing to you.

"You pointed them out Carrie." He said flatly.

"I know what guys like you think. All you good looking guys want a frail little princess that couldn't pick up a gallon of water if their life depended on it. You're turned off by a real woman. I don't know why you even asked me out if you planned on spending the entire night wishing you with one of them." She shout pointing at the group that was just sitting down, paying no attention to them. "They don't even know you're alive. Never did, Matt Hardy. But I did. I noticed you. I always noticed you even though you couldn't' see me. Wake up Hardy. You've got a decent girl who will have you sitting right in front of you – oh and here she comes – the queen bee of them all – making her fashionably late debut I'm guessing." She spat hatefully.

Matt's head was whirling as he tried to makes sense of Carrie's jealous outburst. He had tried to have a conversation with her, but she was hung up on the girls from school. It seemed just seeing them made her angry.

He tried to eat the desert he had gotten off the tray while Carrie kept talking about the woman who looked to be reuniting after who knew how long of not seeing each other. He knew that several of them had gone off to college and one had enlisted in the Air Force.

"I don't see what's so special about her." Carrie spat her attention on the woman who had walked in last. Matt didn't look up. Or tried not to, but after Carrie continued to insult the girl's wardrobe curiosity got the best of him. "I wish she had stayed under whatever rock her daddy had hidden her under. Sitting there like that. How dare she show her face here when her daddy has ripped off almost everyone in town."

Randie Parker sat down with the girls from school. She wasn't smiling like the others, but she looked as pretty as ever despite her hair being partly in her face. It wasn't over one eye anymore but it still hid part of her face.

"That's her father. Not her."

"You too? Is there no one in this town that can see her for the manipulative slut she really is? Go. I'm sure you want to cancel our date now that you know she's back."

"Carrie." Matt said pushing back from the table and wiping his mouth. "This is the first night I have been out in many years, but you're right. I do want to cancel our date and it's not your appearance or your weight that turned me off and it's not that group of woman either. I think I was turned off somewhere between your noisy chewing and your dirty finger in my plate. Your obvious jealousy over other women is just the icing on the cake." He put a tip on the table and then stood. "But I'm not an asshole. I'll take you home, but that will be the end of this date and we damn sure won't have another. I don't have time for the drama in my life."

And Carrie had a hell of a story spread around his job by Monday morning.

"Hey Hardy. I heard you got turned down by the maid? Geeze, dude. You must be more of an asshole than I thought if you can't get into the He—she's pants."

But what could he do but ignore them. He couldn't quit and he wasn't there to make friends.


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

This is my new story idea. I hope everyone enjoys it. Please Review. :)

* * *

Chapter 8

"Look who stopped by to say hello?" His father turned his wheelchair to face him as soon as he walked through the door. It had been a week since his date and no one had forgotten. "You remember Randie?"

"Yeah, I remember." He spat. There she was sitting there in a pretty pastel pink blouse and a pair of designer jeans. Actually the jeans threw him off a little, but her hair looked professionally done, even though it still hid part of her face and her nails looked freshly manicured as well. She looked as rich as ever and probably came by just to see if they were still just as poor. "I have to cook dinner."

"He's always crabby after work." His father excused. "He's been working twelve hours lately, sometimes more."

Matt went into the kitchen and began working on throwing something together. His coworkers had been giving him hell about his failed date with Carrie. Someone even placed a picture of her in his tool box, or a picture of some grotesquely obese naked woman with Carrie's head pasted on.

"Where is Jeff?" He asked Sloan just as Jeff waltzed through the front door. "Where have you been?"

"I got a job." Jeff said with a big smile. "Bagging groceries at Old man's Johnson's store."

"You what?"

"It's in the evenings. Only a few hours so I'll be able to do it when school starts back. I'm gonna work some day shifts over the summer."

"And who the hell's going to be here with dad and the boys? You know someone has to be with him now and I can't afford to pay a sitter all summer. I can barely afford the nurse that comes out to check on him every day."

His father's health had gotten worse. So bad that the doctor said he wasn't able to watch his youngest children anymore. And a case worker was up their ass so he couldn't leave Sloan in charge even though he was mature enough to handle what little his father needed help with because case worker thought that was neglectful.

"I'll stay with them." Randie offered meekly.

"You?" Matt about laughed. "You want to babysit?"

"I think it's a great idea." His father said. "She's staying with her aunt and uncle for a little while."

"You know we can't pay you." Matt spat.

"I don't mind helping." Randie whispered, her eyes on her lap.

"Fine. Whatever makes everyone happy. That still doesn't help me figure out what to do when summer is over."

Matt slammed around the pots and pans in the kitchen. He felt like everything was on him. He didn't have much help and the state was making it even harder on him. They were on him about the condition of the house, the things that needed to be fixed and brought up to code. It wasn't clean enough and they needed more food in the house. They needed healthier food in the house. They threatened to put his brothers in a state run children's home and send his father to a nursing home. He didn't know what to do.

Not one of those case workers offered him any kind of financial help and he was working seven days a week. He kept a constant headache. He'd been working his whole life to take care of his family and now it seemed it wasn't good enough and the government wanted to tear his family apart. It wasn't fair. They didn't have much. All they had was each other and they had all always been thankful for that. Who the hell did these people think they were coming in and taking that all away?

Randie was waiting on his porch step when he opened the door to head out for work.

"You could have knocked?" He spat. It wasn't just Randie that irritated him. It was everyone like her. Everyone who didn't know what it was like to have a hard time. People who didn't know what it was like to barely scrape by.

"I didn't want to wake everyone up." She always spoke so damn soft. Like she was terrified to speak.

"Well, go in." he urged. "Jeff will fill you in on what Dad needs. Dad can pretty much tell you when he needs help, but Jeff will tell you the stuff Dad won't tell you. There are few meds he tries to skip, but he has to have them. The twins will be up any minute. Marty will get up and take off to the treehouse and Sloan. Hell I have no idea what that kid does. He stays in his own little world. I got to go, Jeff will tell you the rest." She stood up, slung a backpack over her shoulder and picked up a large basket that had been sitting beside her. Something in it made a sound and that's when her realized that that basket was an infant's car seat.

"You have a kid now?"

"Yeah." She whispered staring up at him with terrified eyes.

He groaned. Yeah, she was gonna be a big help and he was sure her kid's screaming was going to irritate his father, but he didn't' have time to worry about how long she would stay.

He rushed to his truck. It wasn't his business. He knew she hadn't been pregnant before she left. He'd seen her. All of her. He didn't want to ask any questions. Didn't want to know who the father was. He wouldn't ask a complete stranger and when he talked to her it felt like he was talking to a stranger. Hell, she pretty much was. All they ever really had was few quick screws.

He worked a double shift that day. It was hard choice to make because he knew so much needed to be done at home, but they needed the money just as bad. He hoped everything was taken care of and that Randie at least stayed until Jeff got home from his job.

It was after midnight before he finally collapsed on the sofa. The house was quiet and his dad was sitting up watching television.

"How was everything today?" He asked his father.

"Fine." His father stated as he flipped the channels on the new television Matt had given him for his birthday the week before. It was something he really couldn't afford, but he thought his father deserved it, especially since the man couldn't do much more those days than watch television. "Supper was real good."

"I haven't eaten all day." Matt had stopped spending money on lunch for himself, going all day sometimes. "I'm too tired to fix anything so I'll just wait until morning." Just as the words were out of his mouth a plate appeared in front of him. He lifted his head up and opened his eyes. Shocked to see a plate of hamburger steak, mashed potatoes and gravy in front of him. And he was even more shocked to see Randie was still there.

"Um – didn't Jeff come home?" He took the plate and the glass of tea she handed him.

"He went on a date." Randie told him as she bent over to pick up her tiny, baby who had just begun to stir out of a playpen she had set up in the living room. She sat down beside him. She seemed uncomfortable sitting so close, but there was a pile of folded laundry sitting on the third cushion.

"He what?"

"He wasn't going to, but I told him I didn't mind staying." She looked like she was a bit scared she had done something wrong. "Was that okay?"

"No, it's fine." Matt waved it off. It seemed like everything had been okay with Randie there. No one was hurt and he didn't come home to find the cops taking his family away.

"I'm going to bed." His father rolled across the room. "Thank you for a wonderful day Miss Randie. I hope to see you tomorrow." He took her hand and gave it a kiss, gently stroked the child's hair, then handed Matt the remote. "Get some sleep kid, you look like shit." He gave him a wink and big grin, then rolled himself into his room.

"You need help?" Matt asked knowing that some days he wasn't able to stand up and transfer himself.

"No. It's a good day."

"Night."

"Night."

Matt took a bite of the food that Randie had cooked and rolled it around on his tongue, savoring the flavor. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten something that tasted so good. Or maybe it was because he was so hungry. He barely ate most days. Usually no more than quick sandwich before going to bed after a long shift. And Jeff's dinners were horrible, always overcooked if not burnt and his own cooking tasted like cardboard.

"Well – I'll see you tomorrow – maybe." She said softly after there had been a long moment of silence. She gathered her things and headed out the door with the baby on her shoulder and the car seat in her hand. It didn't occur to him to help her or give her a ride down the long driveway until she had left.

He wasn't trying to be rude to her, he was just busy shoveling the food into his mouth. When he was done he actually got up and hunted for more and ate another plate full.

The next day, he came home just as late.

"Randie left you a plate in the fridge." Matt dragged himself into the kitchen, which he normally wouldn't do for Jeff's cooking and pulled out a foil covered plate. He lifted it to find a big helping of lasagna. His favorite food in the world and it tasted better than he remembered. "What time did she leave?" He was a little upset that she was gone and Jeff wasn't home, but he wasn't paying her so he knew he should be thankful for whatever she did give, knowing that she would get bored and quit anytime.

Then he heard the faint cries of the baby and watched his roll over to the playpen, lift himself to his feet and pick the baby up. He rolled back with it in his arms.

"She's a cute thing isn't she?"

"It's a girl."

"Yeah." His father said softly as he gently bounced her. "Reminds me of you when you were this little. You had just as much hair and it was just as dark."

"She's still here, huh?"

"Yeah. She's helping Jeff in the barn. The evening shift bagger got sick and Jeff took the hours. Now's he's tending to the animals, but that damn rotten rafter finally broke. It's blocking all the feed. They're trying to dig it out."

"Shit." Matt put down the plate and headed out the door. "Sloan!" he yelled for the oldest child in the house who always came immediately. He felt bad for waking him, but he didn't want his father left completely alone with an infant. He seemed fine that night, but an episode could hit him unexpectantly at any given time. "Sit with Dad."

"Damn it," He cursed as he rushed to the barn. He'd been trying to get to that rafter for a long time, but life just got in the way. He rushed out to the barn. Randie was using a pitch fork to move some of the hay from the loft off of the large food containers and bags but the beam was still in the way. Jeff was trying to lift the large beam, but his skinny frame wasn't strong enough.

"Head to the house Jeff." Matt ordered. "I'll feed them." He didn't want his brother worn out like he was. "And this is the last double you pull until you're out of school. Got me? You already got a full time job at home. You're normal hours are too much as it is."

Jeff didn't argue. He could tell he was tired. Matt lifted the beam with one blunt move even though he was exhausted from his own double shift. Maybe it was an adrenilne rush from anger or maybe frustration and stress. He wasn't sure. When he turned around he caught Randie staring in awe.

"You should probably head home too." He spat. He figured she was sick of playing in the barn with the dirty, wet hay. He jerked the barrels from under the hay, found the buckets he needed and began to fill them with feed.

"I don't mind helping." Randie told him, coming closer.

"I don't need help. I do this every day." He snapped a little too harshly.

"Matt." She touched his arm. "Let me help." She took the pail out of his hand and together they walked to the pins and poured out the feed to the livestock. When he returned to put the buckets away he collapsed onto a hay bail. His back ached and he thought seriously about spending the night in the barn so he didn't have to walk all the way back to the house. He didn't notice Randie behind him until her hands touched his shoulders and gently massaged. His body seemed to relax without his consent, his shoulder hunching over as he enjoyed Randie's kneading. Then she moved to his back. Rubbing and pressing as if she knew exactly what was hurting.

"Damn, woman, if you weren't too good for me, I would marry you." He laughed at his own joke, but Randie wasn't laughing. She stopped rubbing abruptly.

He stood and stretched, knowing he had to get to the house before his father sent Jeff back out to hunt him down. The sickness and the pain didn't stop the parental worrying. He'd experienced it and he'd yet to have kids of his own. He gazed at Randie. She was looking at her feet with her hands twisting in front of her.

"Can you come one more day this week? I'm off the weekend, so we won't need you those days." he asked with a matter of fact voice, like he was speaking to an employee. "Um – here." He dug into his pocket and pulled out a twenty. "It's not much, but I worked at a lot this week. I just wanted you to know we're grateful for your help. It's a lot of work and I don't expect you to do it for free." He put the bill in her hand. "If it's not enough, I'm sure we can come to some kind of agreement." He added quickly when she stared at the money in her hand. She just stared at it. She didn't look up and she didn't say anything. "I'm sure I can make it work if it's reasonable."

"I don't want your money." She whispered.

"What? My money's not good enough?" he snapped at her. "Oh, wait. I bet you've never seen a twenty dollar bill before. I guess anything lower than a hundred is an insult." He turned around and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I mean all you did was a little dusting and cooking." He was angry. He felt like she had slapped him in the face when all he was trying to do was show her that he appreciated her help. "You know what. Forget it. I don't need you."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Randie took off out of the barn. She ran out of the barn actually and when he looked down he found the twenty dollar bill on the floor.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Last chapter tonight guys. Thanks so much for the reviews BlondieC82. :)

* * *

Chapter 9

He didn't expect to see Randie the next day. He didn't expect to ever see her again. She wasn't there when he left for work, but when he got home she was there. She was just getting ready to start dinner and must have assumed that he would work his normal double. Probably planning to leave before he arrived. He wasn't sure what to think that about her being there. It didn't make sense why she would want to be there.

His home was a shack. The carpet was faded and bare in some spots. The linoleum on the kitchen floor was torn and stained and the paneled walls were warped. The furniture was old and nicked, the windows were … clean. And the entire house had been dusted. It didn't smell old and musty. It smelled fresh. Like the clean linen which was folded in a basket right beside him.

He gazed at the kitchen. There were flowers on the table. The kitchen faucet, although dented sparkled as did the sink. The piles of clothing and discarded items that usually sat around everywhere were gone. He really hadn't noticed just how much she had done in his home.

"I'm going to change." He told his father and went into his bedroom. His bed was made. His brush and hygiene products were lined up neatly on his old dresser and she had put away the clothes that were piled up on top of it. She'd even ironed the things that sat in the corner basket unfolded that had been there for weeks. He took off his shoes and didn't feel the grit that had been on the plywood since he'd built the small room.

"I'm going to go since you're home." Randie stood in his door way. "I put a casserole in the oven. It should be ready in about twenty minutes." Her tone always sounded so meek to him and her eyes never rose from her feet when she spoke to him, like she was scared of him or something, then she turned and left.

"That's a sweet girl." His father commented when he returned and flopped down on the sofa.

"What are we watching?"

"Movie night with the boys. Randie's idea." He conversed. "I was complaining about wishing I could take the kids to do more things and she gave us this DVD player and a box of movies. Said her aunt was giving it away and she would be happy to see us use it instead of strangers."

Matt didn't like charity from anyone and he just groaned as the twins sifted through the box for what they wanted to watch the minute their father gave them permission. They must have been pestering him all day.

"We're gonna eat that casserole in here tonight and watch a good movie without commercials." His father laughed. "Won't that be something?"

He couldn't take the joy away from his father who seemed to love Randie and anything she suggested. The man had never taken anything from anyone in his life.

"Oh stop being so grumpy, Matt. I know what you're thinking and you need to get it out of your head. We've given things we didn't use anymore to people in the past. This is no different."

"It's charity. Just one more good deed for her and that family of hers to go around town bragging about. You know that's the only reason those people go around volunteering like they do. I wouldn't let her in here if we had any other choice. I can't stand people talking about us like we're some third world country."

"Stop right there." His father cut him off. "You really think that is why that girl is doing all of this?"

"Why else?"

His father chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"I think you might need glasses son."

"You alright, Dad? Did you take too much of your pain medicine or something." He stared at his father like he had lost his mind. "Shit. I forgot that damn casserole." Randie had said twenty minutes and it had been nearly thirty-five. "I hope it isn't burned." And that made his father laugh even harder.

XXX

"So?" Randie's Aunt looked up from her knitting the moment she walked through the door.

"I can't find a way to tell him." She laid her daughter down in her bassinet and sat down on the sofa. She leaned her head against her Aunt Peg's shoulder. "He's so angry all the time."

"He's got a lot on him." Her Aunt sighed. "Sweetie, maybe all what happened between you two was all he wanted."

"I still have to tell him."

"You did tell him. You left that sonogram on his truck before you left."

"Yeah but my pen quit working and I didn't have time to search for another. I saw Daddy's truck enter the parking lot."

Matt's place of employment was next door to the bus station. She'd been sitting on the bench waiting on her bus. She remembered staring at the plant doors. Wishing Matt would come out so she could tell him and after the intercom announced that her bus was running late, she walked over to the parking lot and stood against his truck. It was nearly midnight. Nearly time for the third shift to take over. She'd seen people walking in and knew it was only a matter of time before Matt would walk out.

However her father had come looking for her. She'd thought she'd seen his truck drive by on the main road a few times, but she was never sure until he pulled into the parking lot of the plant. Her heart felt like it had dropped into her stomach. The man must have driven by every place he thought she would go, including any place Matt might be.

She squatted beside the vehicle, hoping the darkness would conceal her and she hurriedly wrote on the ultrasound of her baby, placed it under his wiper as soon as her father's truck went out the exit. She ran before he had a chance to make another pass through the one way parking lot and hid inside the station until the bus for Ohio pulled up a few minutes later.

She had hoped that Matt would take one look at the picture and the date and know. He hoped that he would understand why she had to leave and know that she would come back.

She'd stayed with a good friend of Aunt Peg's. Her best friend from high school whom she kept in touch with on a daily basis. And her Aunt and Uncle were there when she gave birth

. She remained there until she was seventeen. When no one could make her go anywhere she didn't want to be thanks to the laws. When she was free to live anywhere she wanted. She had hesitated since she was still technically a minor and thought seriously about staying away until she was eighteen. But her heart knew where it wanted to be.

For two weeks Randie went to Matt's home. She grew fond of his family. His father was very kind and he was always eager to get his hands on the baby every morning. He cuddled and spoiled her. Just like a grandfather would and he always remarked about how he couldn't wait to have grandkids. Oh, how she wished she could tell him, but she needed to tell Matt first.

Sloan, Marty and the twins tickled her. They were typical boys. Always into something and they had amazing imaginations, just like Matt had once had.

But they all had their own personalities and their own tricks to get out of trouble. But by the second week she knew them all too well and she knew when they were up to something before they had time to pull it off. She really did feel like a mom. A mom of five.

Some days it was so exhausting and she fully understood what Matt went through every day. She had always known he had a lot to deal with, but now that she had become part of it, she knew that he couldn't do it on his own. He had tried so hard, but there was still so much that was neglect because he was only one person and there were only so many hours in a day.

Matt was in a bad mood when he came home most days. He acted like the sight of her irritated him. Annoyed him. There was no softness in his voice when spoke to her. That sparkle that had once been there when his eyes caught hers was absent. It was as if he wanted her to believe he really hated her. It should have been enough for her to give up on him, but when she watched how hard he worked to provide for his family, how much he cared for his father and brothers, how he went without to make sure they had, she excused all of his behavior and found herself falling deeper and deeper in love with him.

She raised her eyebrows one Friday night when Matt came stumbling in the front door. It was really late and she thought he had been at work. The kids were in bed. His father had just gone to bed and she was about to leave, but the baby had shown signs of being hungry. She didn't want to wait until she got home. By then the child would be screaming and extremely upset. So, she decided to feed her before she left, like she had done many times before.

Matt didn't' seem to notice her as he staggered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.

"Ah ha!" he said a little too loudly and Randie looked toward the bedroom doors for signs that the kids had been woken up. Matt stumbled to the microwave with the plate she had left him. "MMM. Baby, this smells real good." He slurred and turned his drunken smile her way. He zigzagged his way the sofa and flopped his arms onto the back of the couch, leaning on it behind her. She could smell the alcohol on him and he just stared.

"Is this bothering you?" She asked, knowing that some people were a bit uncomfortable when she breastfed, even though she stayed covered up with a thin blanket.

"I've seen your breasts before, Randie. And they are beautiful." He leaned closer to her ear. "I'm actually a little jealous of the little tike right now." He chuckled at her dropped jaw and the crimson that crept into her cheeks.

The microwave bell dinged and his attention was back on his stomach.

"Food!"

Randie was sure he was going to wake his brothers and she hoped eating would sober him a bit. But he was a funny when he was drunk. He ate the food with his fingers, his eyes on her as she burped the baby, then placed her safely in the playpen while she gathered her things.

"Do that again." He had moved back to the living room, watching her as she bent over for the backpack that she used for a diaper bag.

He took a step and stumbled and nearly fell over the back of the sofa. She rushed to his side to stabilize him and a pair of hands grasped her waist. She found herself pressed against him. His touch was so gentle that she knew that he still cared beneath that hard exterior he presented every day. But the man couldn't stand straight to save his life. His eyes were droopy and he looked like he was going to pass out any minute. She moved so she was under his arm and he used her like a crutch as she helped him to his room. He was so heavy leaning his weight against her that she thought he would take them both to the floor.

He fell onto the bed, bouncing a bit before resting his head on the pillow with his hands behind his head. She covered him with the small blanket folded across the bottom of the bed.

"You're good to us." She felt his breath in her ear as he as his arms encircled her. "You're good to me."

"You're a good man." She replied, then turned to leave.

"Don't go." He grabbed her arm and pulled her down with him. She hesitated, then hugged his waist and put laid her head on his chest. "Mmm. This is nice." He moaned and toyed with her hair until he fell asleep.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Chapter 9 had a little mistake, but it's been fixed. Hope its not too confusing. :) Thanks for reading.

* * *

Chapter 10

Randie's eyes popped open to the sound of two little gasped and found Cory and Cameron staring at her with big smiled. She held the blanket tight against her bosom and put a finger to her lips.

Cameron gave her a big hug like he had been doing every morning.

"Good morning." She said softly to the twins who seemed overly happy to see her in Matt's bed. "And I bet you're hungry." She giggled as she asked Cory who was always hungry. It still amazed her that she could tell them apart. They were identical from their platinum blonde hair to the dimple on their cheeks. Even their father and brothers had trouble, but it had only taken her a few days to see that Cameron's lips turned up slightly in the corner when he grinned and one of his eyebrows went up slightly when he was up to something while Cory was shy. His little voice slightly softer.

"I'll be right out." She promised the boys who ran out of the room continuing whatever game they had been playing, then she glanced at Matt. She hadn't expected him to make love to her the night before. He fallen asleep so easily and she'd almost drifted off herself when he turned towards. She gently moved his arm and he let out a contented sigh. The twins wouldn't wait too long before coming back and she didn't want them to wake Matt. He seemed so tired all the time and she worried about him. She pulled back the covers and winced. Her thighs were sore. She giggled a bit. Matt had been wild. His touch remained gentle, but his passion had been unbridled.

XXX

Matt awoke with a headache the next morning … and to the smell of bacon. Bacon that wasn't burning. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glanced at the clock. It was nearly nine in the morning. He never slept that late on his day off. Cory and Cameron were usually jumping on his bed whining about some lost toy or fighting over something or another. Marty would be right behind them complaining about being bored because Jeff was at work and Sloan usually caused a huge crash in the kitchen from some science experiment he had tried to concoct.

The extra sleep had felt good, but it sent off an instant alarm. Why was it so quiet? And who the hell was messing around in the kitchen? He hopped out of bed and stepped out of his room.

Cameron and Cory were on the floor building something out of blocks, talking and getting along quietly. Jeff was stretched out on the couch with the phone to his ear. Marty was watching some cartoon DVD and Sloan was sitting at the table kneading dough with his fist, chatting with Randie Parker who was just bending over to peer into the oven. He stood against the wall just between the two rooms, watching for a minute. He liked the view.

"Good morning, Matt." Sloan said with a smile the minute he noticed him.

"Morning." He shook off his thoughts and held his lips tight.

"Shhh. Dad's still sleeping." Sloan said with a finger to his lips. He walked over to Randie, leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. "I told you we didn't need you this Saturday. I'm off." He kept his voice low, but his tone slightly harsh.

"You told her to stay last night moron." Jeff informed him as he sauntered into the kitchen to cradle the phone. "You woke up half the house last night. Do you have to be so loud when you get laid?"

"Why are you home? Don't you have to work?" Matt stared daggers at his brother. He liked privacy where his intimate life was concerned and he sure didn't like his brash little brother saying it so bluntly in front their young siblings. Not to mention the fact that he didn't remember screwing anyone the night before.

Randie was wearing one of his tee shirts and a pair of his boxer shorts. Blurred bits and pieces of the night before came back. He had drank way too much. Far more than usual and he felt guilty for it because he knew he'd spent money they couldn't afford him spend. And he felt like she had taken advantage, using his drunken state to crawl into his bed. She had to know by then that he had no interest in her. He was about to ask her to leave when what she was stirring caught his eye. "I – is that homemade gravy?"

Randie's lips spread into a smile and she took a spoon, dipped it in the pan, blew on it a bit, then with a hand under the spoon, she brought it to his lips. It tasted as good as everything else she'd made for him. "How did you learn to cook like that?"

She shrugged her shoulder. "Cook books … I guess."

"This doesn't look like a volcano, Randie."

Randie broke eye contact with him and hurried over to Sloan. Matt watched her. She inspected Sloan's project like a diligent mother. All her attention on him.

"It looks like a big lump of nothing." Sloan loved science, but he tended to over think his projects or chose something so complicated that it overwhelmed him and never worked right. He hoped he found something else that interested him before he burned the house down.

"You have to work with it. It's not going to just fall into the shape you want it to be." Randie opened one the books on the table and set it up so Sloan could see. "Look at the picture. Really look at it and just play with the clay until you're happy. Then we'll bake it." She began to smooth the base of the lump with her fingers and Sloan copied her. She returned to the stove as soon as she was sure he had the hang of it.

"It's a simple project. I don't know if it will be good enough." Sloan worried.

"It's sixth grade. It's good enough." Randie laughed. "And you have months to work on it before the science fair. By then you'll have all kinds of research and you'll add to the model. It will be amazing."

"But the other kids will have hamsters turning on lightbulbs with their wheels."

"Which means none of them will have a volcano. Relax little man. I told you the judges on love little details. I swear, you're gonna give yourself an ulcer by the time your thirteen." She laughed as she dished bacon from the pan to a nearby paper towel lined plate.

"But I want to go to college. I have to get a scholarship." Sloan worried.

"Are they going to give you a scholarship if you win?" She asked.

"No."

"Then why are you freaking?"

Sloan was speechless for a moment. "I don't know."

"It's middle school. Try your best. Learn from the mistakes and have some fun. Geeze, you're too young to act so old."

Sloan smiled sheepishly and Matt was in awe. It was like the twilight zone. His house. Without kayos on Saturday morning. And Randie talking so easily to his little brother and smiling when she could barely speak to him. It was almost like she was pretending. Like they had done when they were kids.

"Clean up." She sang out after about ten minutes. "Breakfast is almost done."

"I'll wash my hands and take Dad a plate." Sloan obeyed. Matt shook his head. It was weird. Sloan was usually so wrapped up in his own little world when he was working on an experiment. So much so that he didn't hear a word he said to him and he got frustrated and upset anytime he was dragged out of whatever he was working on.

"Dad doesn't like to eat in bed." Matt stated dryly.

"He's got a bit of fever this morning." Randie's whispered, but he think it was partly so the children playing in the next room wouldn't hear. "He said he had a bad night."

"Fever?" Matt was instantly alarmed. That was how his last hospital stay had begun.

"Slight." She said. "I called the doctor and he said to keep an eye on it and let him know if it hits one oh one."

"You should have woke me." He growled and he was sure she jumped a little. He stepped closer and she tensed.

"I'm sorry." She stated meekly and her hands shook a little as she transferred the food from the counter to the table. He went to the fridge to pour some juice. He stared at the contents for a moment. It had never looked that clean before. The shelves were actually white and not sticky with spilled who knows what. He was about to compliment her on it when he heard a loud crash, followed instantly by a babies wales. He spun around. She had been on the very tip of her toes, pulling out a stack of plates when a couple had slipped off and shattered at her feet. She immediately dropped to her knees to gather the shards.

Matt rushed over to her and she jumped when he was right there in front of her.

"I'm sorry." She shuddered. "I'm so sorry."

He brought his hand up and she cringed, shutting her eyes and turning away as if she expected him to strike her and she seemed a bit surprised that he only swept the hair out of her face, exposing a thick scar at the corner of her eye. He brushed his finger over it and she turned away quickly as if he had exposed her as a hideous monster.

"I need to get the baby." She whispered, but Matt put a hand on her shoulder to stop her.

"I'll get her." He offered. Randie was obviously shaken up.

He went to the playpen that was set up on the empty wall in his kitchen. The child was so tiny he was a little scared he would break her, but he fit her safely in his arms and took a seat with her at the table.  
"What's her name?"

Randie's hands still trembled as she cleaned up the broken glass and finished setting the table. "Um – Oliva Jean." Her voice shook a bit and Matt looked up the moment she'd said it.

"That was my mother's name." She stood frozen beside him, biting her lower lip. She knew his mother's name and he smiled. His mother was a wonderful woman who had been very fond of Randie. And Randie had been fond of her and she obviously hadn't forgotten. He felt honored.

He looked at the baby who looked up at him with big eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Oliva Jean Parker." He said softly, feeling a sense of happiness and wonder as the infant wrapped her tiny fingers around his.

"Hardy." Randie corrected him in a faint whisper.

Again, Randie made him glance up at her with surprise.

"Like her father." Randie gazed at her feet.

"I'm hungry." Cameron came running into the kitchen. "Can we eat now?"

"Wash your hands first." Matt commanded weakly. He gazed up at Randie again. Then he gazed at Oliva, then ran a hand over his face. He didn't know what to think. He didn't know if it could be true. He rose, handed the baby to Randie and walked out the door, letting it slam behind him.

He paced the front porch. Was it part of the game she played?

Matt went to his truck and tore out all the junk he'd tossed into his glove box and never cleaned out, remembering that ultrasound picture. He found it and he stared at it and the date printed on it. He knew exactly when he was with Randie. For some reason the dates had stuck in his head. He counted it up. Randie's baby was three months old and added up perfectly to the first time they had been together.

"Shit." He was angry again. That was how she had chosen to tell him? He was livid. It was so vague, but as he looked closer at the message he noticed a few stray marks next to the heart and when the light hit it just right, he saw that an R had been imprinted, as the author had begun to sign it, but the pen had run out of ink.

Randie walked out of the house with her backpack over her shoulder and the baby in her arms. She paused on the porch when she noticed him in his vehicle. She'd probably thought he'd gone to tend to the barn, like he usually did when something in the house frustrated him.

"This is how you chose to tell me!" he yelled at her. He'd never raised his voice at Randie Parker before. His tone had been harsh but he had never screamed at her before. She jumped at every word and began to cry as he stomped towards her waving the thin paper. Her terrified, frozen stare only infuriated him. She gave him no explanation. She said nothing. "You show up here with a baby and you expect me to believe she mine!"

She shook her head.

"All you've ever done is play games with me."

"No." she mouthed. But her sobbing was so uncontrolled that she was gasping for air. He took her arms and kept her from turning away.

"Say something!" He bellowed.

"Just you." She sobbed.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"I've only been with you!" She screamed out and it caught him off guard. Randie had never spoken in a normal volume much less yell.

"I'm supposed to believe that?" He asked. "With all the guys – Logan. He's the one you were with all the time. She's really his isn't she? He dumped you and you now you're wanting to me to play daddy? For how long Randie? Until you get bored?"

She walked passed him, her steps hurriedly heading down his dirt drive way.

"Randie!" he screamed after her. "Randie!" he screamed but she kept walking so he took a few long strides to catch up to her. "So, you're just gonna tell me something like this and leave?"

"I'm taking Olivia to my aunt." She said in her normal barely audible tone. "Since your father's sick." She wiped away a tear. "And I don't want her to see … I – thought."

"What? What did you think?"

"I – I've always thought you were – but I was wrong." She sobbed.

"Don't you think I have enough to worry about without some chick coming in here trying to push her kid on me?" the baby began to cry.

"Oliva shouldn't hear fighting. Not like I did." She whispered. "I'll be back, then you can yell at me all you want."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)

* * *

Chapter 11

Matt was worried about his father. He spent all day in bed. He vomited and he slept. Randie return as she said, a few hours later, but she didn't speak to him. Not that she really did before.

"I figured you be half way to another town by now." He spat when he opened the door.

"I said I'd help." She whispered.

"Wow. A rich girl that keeps her word." He spat sarcastically. "You sure you want to do that? Won't you're rich bitch friends kick you out of their little shopping club."

She just turned and smacked a small yellow card against his chest.

"What the hell is this?" It was an appointment card for him to give a DNA sample at a clinic. "Are you kidding me?"

There was so much sorrow in her eyes. She had stopped crying but her eyes were stull puffy and red. She didn't answer him. Just went on to his father's room, then did as he guessed she did every day as if he wasn't there, staying all day, helping him with the kids until late in the evening, going home right after cooking dinner for them.

"You're not going to eat with us, Randie?" Cory asked her at the door.

"I have to go now." She told him and hugged both twins.

"Will you be here tomorrow?"

Randie glanced at Matt, obviously unsure how to answer.

"Yeah, she'll be here tomorrow." Matt answered and Randie gave him a weak smile before heading out.

"Are you going to marry Randie?"

They were all sitting around watching television. Cory was sitting real close to him, Cameron on his other side, Marty was on his belly on the floor and Sloan was sitting Indian style, browsing his volcano book.

"Why do you ask that?"

"I don't want Randie to leave." Cory pouted. "I like her being here."

"Yeah." Cameron chimed in. "It's like we have a normal family now. Like our friends."

"It's like we have a mom like Joey does. Randie makes us snacks and helps us with stuff. She reads us bedtime stories when we go to bed and she doesn't let us come into the house without wiping our feet, like our all our friends mom's do." Cory said.

"I cut my finger yesterday and she made it feel better." Cameron told him. "When she goes we won't be normal anymore."

"We were normal before. We'll be normal again."

"No we won't. There won't be anyone here to keep it all together." Sloan stated dryly.

"Listen. All of you." Matt put some authority in his tone. "Randie has her own life and she's only here for the summer and when it's time for her to go, she will. You're just going to have to accept it."

"She won't leave if you don't let her." Sloan snapped. "You're the only one who doesn't want her here."

"Sure he does." Jeff smirked. "In his bed."

"I don't understand." Sloan complained. He slammed his book down on the floor and stomped into his room. "I thought that was something you're supposed to do with someone you love?" He yelled back.

Matt sighed. Sloan was older now. He knew about the things men and women did, but he was too young to understand. They were all too young to understand.

"Your kid huh." Jeff said in his sarcastic way. Of all the days for Jeff to be off work and not have a date. "I'm not shocked. I already knew you hooked up with her."

"Mind your business, Jeff." Matt stated like a brother. He was too tired to be an authority figure and reprimand him for talking about matters in front of the younger kids.

"No. You need to get your head out of your ass." Jeff remarked.

Matt just gazed at his brother. Jeff normally didn't have much to say about anything he did. He would joke from time to time, but that was the extent of it.

"You've always labeled Randie." He stood, picked up Cory who had fallen to sleep on the couch.

"I'm not blind."

Jeff put both twins in bed than kicked his feet up on the recliner he had found at a yard sale that day.

"Yeah, you're blind. You're so blind that you can't see that you're holding shit against Randie that has nothing to do with her."

"I know what this whole town thinks of us." Matt sighed.

"That's not Randie."

"Randie is a rich – b – chick who's pretended she didn't know me for years."

"See you can't even call her a bitch like you do the other girls." Jeff laughed. "You've always been crazy about Randie and she's always been crazy about you."

"Yeah." Matt laughed. "I saw that when she told me to stay away from her every time I tried to talk to her. She let me screw her than she was embarrassed to let people see me talk to her." Matt laid down on the sofa.

"So what. Ask the girl out. She looks a hell of lot better than Carrie Middleton."

"Why is everyone in this house trying to convince me to have a relationship with this girl?"

Jeff sat up in the chair and looked at him seriously.

"I don't what kind of girl Randie was in school. I don't know what she did to piss you off and I understand that you're not into her. But what I do know is that the kids love her. Dad loves her and we got social service up our asses. Maybe Randie is just trying to find a dad for her baby. Maybe she is the stuck up rich snob you think she is. Hell, if it was me I would play along. Let her use you and use the bitch right back. Let her keep cleaning and playing mom around here. The place looks great. Someone is here with Dad and the kids and that damn woman that checks up on us every damn week will have nothing more to complain about."

Matt laughed at Jeff's suggestion.

"Maybe I should marry her and make her get up and take care of the animals and the fields." He joked.

"It would sure pay her back for ignoring you all those times."

Matt's mouth dropped. He'd never been the vindictive kind, but his little brother was. Jeff would hold a grudge until he found a way to get even. Matt had experienced it himself many times in the past, but could he really do it?


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)

* * *

Chapter 12

Friday again. Only he wasn't off the next day. It was his weekend to work and he'd worked his days off. It felt like one long never ending cycle.

"Stay and watch the movie with us." The twins begged Randie not to leave that night. She had brought them a new movie and they couldn't wait for their father to tell them it was time to watch.

"I can't." Every time she answered, her eyes, full of sorrow, would fall on Matt. She'd been leaving as soon as he walked through the door most days and he thought she was going out of her way to avoid talking to him as much as possible.

"Stay." Matt was tired and didn't feel like hearing the twins whine when she walked out the door.

"Sit here." Cory moved over, making her have to sit next to his older brother. And of course Cameron wanted to be close to Randie too, so he climbed up on Matt's lap. Matt turned sideways, dropping the heavy twin on the sofa next to his babysitter. It seemed Randie managed to get every male under her spell, no matter what age and there he was with his arm draped over the sofa behind her, mindless playing with her hair which he didn't notice he was doing until Cameron jumped up and took the spot on the other side of his brother, both squirming until they had forced Randie to slide closer to Matt. Now she was settled perfectly against him, his arm still draped behind her, just like any couple would sit. And when the movie ended, they jumped up and said good night and ran off to their rooms.

Those little monsters had had a plan the entire time. He rolled his eyes as the others followed suit, including Jeff who mouthed "Do it." In reference to the plan he'd suggested the week before as he left the room.

"I should go." She pulled away from him since the sofa was less crowded.

"It's late. You might as well stay the night." He rubbed his face. He was sleepy and had a long day ahead of him. He'd had a dull headache that wouldn't go away and it didn't help that he had felt achy and tired all day.

"Okay." She agreed. "I just need to check on Olivia. Is it okay if I use the phone?"

"You know where it is."

She'd been leaving Olivia with her aunt since his father had caught the flu. She didn't want to expose such a young infant to the virus and he thought it was a good idea. The flu strain going around had been deadly that year. He worried about his father the entire week, but he seemed a lot better. And he had to admit that he was looking forward to having Olivia around again. He had given a sample to the clinic and he still hadn't gotten the results. But he had a soft spot for babies and Olivia was named after his mother.

"I'll get you some blankets."

"I'll get them." She insisted in that same shy way.

"Night." He didn't want to give her the impression that his invitation to stay was personal. He swore he would never touch Randie Parker again.

He headed to room and laid down on the bed, too tired to even take off his shoes or change his clothes, but when he woke in the morning his shoes were off and he had been covered with a thick blanket from the closet. He didn't want to move. He felt like shit. His head was pounding, his nose was running and his throat was itchy. But he knew he had to get to work so he pulled himself upright and felt his stomach tighten and cramp. He scolded his own body. Telling it to straighten up because he had no time to be sick. He didn't get two steps before he was on his knees, hurling into his waste basket.

Of all people to come to his room, why did it have to be Randie? He felt embarrassed on top of the horrible sickness. He expected her to ask something stupid like 'are you alright' but instead she dropped to her knees, placed a cold rag to his forehead and rubbed his back as he vomited.

"Ugh." He laid his head on her lap. "I have to get dressed." He crawled to his bed so he could use it as a crutch to get to his feet. He was overcome with dizziness and had to sit on the frameless thing instead. His stomach churned and Randie was right there with the trashcan.

"I'm going to be late." He complained.

"You're sick." She told him, probably knowing that he was trying to brainwash himself into thinking he wasn't.

"I'll be fine. I'll pick up some medicine on the way." He stood again and again saw the room spin.

"You can't even stand. Your dad just got over this. All the boys have it too." She said as if he shouldn't be surprised that it didn't pass him by.

"Maybe people in your world can afford to stay home when they feel bad, but poor people don't have that luxury." He spat at her then tried again to get up, but finally gave up when he realized there was no way he could drive his truck, much less do his job. "What did you do, poison us all so you can play the good nurse?"

"Yeah." She said sarcastically. "Because that's what us rich people do."

Her statement made him laugh. He hadn't heard her talk like that since they were kids.

"Give me the phone."

Thankfully he had plenty of sick days saved. Vacation as well. Days he never used and turned in for cash at the end of the year. It pissed him off that he was going to have to give up that extra money.

Randie spent the day tending to him and all five of his brothers, but he seemed to be the worse. When he wasn't passed out, he was throwing up. Randie came to him each time. That night she laid beside him, wiping his forehead, face and neck with a cool cloth. She appeared wore out to him, her hair wasn't neat at it usually was and she hadn't applied any makeup.  
"You're too good for me." He mumbled. His thoughts didn't really connect. He felt delirious and she had been checking his temperature all day it seemed. "I wish I could keep you." He couldn't control what came out of his mouth. "But we're just playing house. Aren't we?"

"I think you need more medicine." She said wearily. Maybe she was a bit worried. Maybe it was his imagination playing out wishes he wouldn't let himself think about.

"I need you." He pulled her into his arms. "I just want you." Then he was out again.

He didn't feel any better the next day, or the day after. He seemed to be getting worse. By the third day he couldn't even complete his call in to work without heaving. Randie took the phone and spoke to his boss, then sighed.

"Matt, you need a doctor."

"I'll be fine." He insisted. "It's just a bug. I don't need more doctor bills."

His stomach felt better than it had in days when he returned to his bed, but his throat hurt so bad he could barely swallow.

"No one else threw up this long. You need to …"

"Get off my back." He snapped with a hoarse voice. "You're not my wife." She pulled away from him and stayed so quiet he thought she had left the room.

"I wish I could marry someone like you." She finally whispered. Her words stunned him. He opened his eyes and stared. It was all he could do was stare. He even laughed a little bit on the inside. Sure, she would like to marry him. She wasn't even eighteen yet. She was probably planning to go to college in the fall. He knew some schools had daycare. Having a baby wouldn't ruin her future. Her aunt would probably take the kid and raise it so Randie could continue to be young. She had a lot of options.

Hell, maybe she just wanted to play house with someone over the summer. Maybe this was all any of it had ever been. He thought about what Jeff had said. Fine. Screw it. If she wanted to keep playing, he'd call her bluff. Hell, he could use some fun in his life. He'd go along with it as long as she wanted. Hell, the boys wanted her to stay around. At least they wouldn't blame him when she finally walked out.

He reached into the drawer of the nightstand beside him and felt around until he found what he was looking for. He gazed at his mother's small diamond ring. It was an antique passed down for a few generations and for some stupid reason he thought it was a good idea to slip it on the finger of a girl who probably wouldn't stay with him, but he didn't think about that until it was already in place.

"It's not much, but it was my mom's and my grandmothers and I think my great grandmother's." he rubbed his finger over her finger. He never thought he would see that ring on anyone's finger and it fit Randie's perfectly.

"It's beautiful." She kissed his cheek, laid her head on his chest and he thought she let out a soft contented sigh.

He thought he'd dreamed it all when he awoke again, until he realized that she was still curled up in the bed with him. He touched her hand that bore his mother's ring. She couldn't possibly love him. He had nothing to offer her. She had been helping his family for a month. She had gotten a taste of what he life was like. How could she possibly want that to be her life?

He leaned over her and watched her sleep. She was so pretty. Even when her hair was a mess. Even when her face was free of makeup. He swept that rogue strand of hair away, the one that seemed trained to stay there. He brushed his finger over the scar that curved at the corner of her right eye. It was about an inch long and he wondered how it had gotten there, but even that blemish couldn't steal away her beauty.

Oh, how he wished he wasn't worthless. He wished he could give her the things she was used to having, but he was born poor and only grew poorer as time passed. As he thought of all the things in life that was out of his reach, he felt the bitterness creeping back in to his heart.

The woman was cruel to dangle herself in front of him. Offering something he knew he could never keep. The rich played games and he knew from experience that she could play them well and he was about to see how good he could play them. He needed help at least until that damn social worker was off his back and as soon as that happened he would dump her.

Part of him wanted her to feel the sting of rejection. Part of him wanted to put her through hell for the way she had treated him in school and in public. She opened her eyes and stared up into his. He closed his mouth upon hers. If she wanted to play house, he was going to insure that she participated in every sense of the word. In his home and in his bed, but first, he needed a shower. He'd been weak from sickness too long and he felt nasty.

He said nothing as he got up from the bed and headed toward the one bathroom his shared with his family. He'd put a ring on her finger. That was enough to get his point across.

He still felt weak. He'd only taken a few sips of the soup she'd brought him – and fed him the night before. He had thrown up everything that hit his stomach before that. He was probably dehydrated. He stumbled a bit and doubted he'd be able to stand long enough to shower, so he filled the tub instead with water as hot as he could stand it, then slipped his body into the claw foot tub and leaned back against it, absorbing the shock of the cold ceramic before he was finally comfortable. Then, the burst of energy he'd felt was gone and he dozed off, coming to minutes later to the knock on the door. Or he'd thought it had been minutes, but the water was much colder.

Randie peeked inside.

"You've been in here a long time." She said meekly.

"Have I?" He sat up and turned the water on again, hoping he could warm the water again. "I'll be out in a minute." But instead of leaving, she came inside. "I'm not wearing anything." He stated weakly."

"I've seen you naked before, Matt."

"Not this naked." He laughed.

She knelt by the tub and picked up a cup that sat nearby and began to pour water over his hair that he knew was matted and greasy from days of neglect. He leaned back and enjoyed her washing his hair. He enjoyed the gently massage of the cloth against his skin. Then sat forward and let her wash his back, then he took the cloth and her hand. He stared at her. The things she did for him seemed too good to be true. It had to be a dream. Woman in true relationships didn't give so much.

"Why are you being so good to me?" He asked. It wasn't as easy to use her as he wanted it to be.

"I promised you." She whispered, eyes cast down.

"Promised?"

"That I'd always be your wife."

His eyes had never been so wide.

"We were kids." He finally laughed. "And you've been with so many others."

"No." she shook her head, tears coming to her eyes. "I couldn't…."

"Oh please." He spat. "What about Logan? You can't expect me to believe that you've spent all these years devoted to me because of something we said when we were children?"

"I meant it." She sighed, then stood. "I'll get you some clothes."

Oh, she was good. But he refused to be drawn in. He would stick to the plan, get what he needed and cast her away. Just as he knew she intended to do to him and he prayed that this time he got the chance to do it first.


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)

* * *

Chapter 13

"So, you're marrying that girl, huh?" His father brought up the subject. He hadn't said anything to anyone. He came out on the porch with a blanket around his shoulder. The fresh air felt good. Hell anything away from his sick bed felt great.

"Yup. she tell you?"

"Nope. I saw your Mama's ring on her finger."

Matt just shrugged. It was a lazy day and he had stayed home on his day off instead of taking someone else's shift like he usually did. His father's orders. He'd only worked two days that week and it had been rough. He still felt the effects of his illness. He was tired and weak, but he could get out of bed without his head spinning, so he went on with his life.

"I don't think I've ever seen the house look this clean."

"It looks good."

"She's a good cook."

"Yup." Matt lit a cigarette. It was a selfish habit that he'd only started a few years prior, but he bought the cheap kind and it helped relax him a bit.

"The boys seem to like her."

"Yeah." He watched the steady rain come down hoping his father would drop the subject.

"Is she good in bed?"

"Oh yeah." Matt couldn't help himself.

"I guess that's all that counts." His father said in his flat disapproving tone.

"What are you getting at, Dad?" He tossed away his butt.

"Nothing."

"Yeah right. I know there's something or you wouldn't be talking about it."

"She must really love you boy – the way you bark at her." His father shook his head.

"I doubt it."

"I know what you're thinking, kid. She'd be a big help around here and its help you've needed for a very long time, but you're not being fair. You don't love her."

"I don't need love. I need a maid."

"Hell I can't tell you not to use that girl." His father turned to roll back into the house. "Maybe you do love her and you just don't want to admit it."

"I don't think I would have a problem admitting it if I were in love."

"Yeah, you would. Because you're terrified of getting hurt." His father put a hand on his shoulder. "If you're going to do this, at least put some effort into it. Speak kinder to her, pluck a rose or something. She deserves that much."

Matt lit another cigarette and blew out the smoke. How the hell his father figured out what he was up to was beyond him. Well, maybe it had been obvious. He wasn't exactly falling all over Randie. He showed her little kindness. Honestly, he tested her more than anything. He gave her no attention when he came home. The only time he acted like they were in a relationship was when he took her to bed each night. That was the part he enjoyed the most. He'd never had a woman so available to him and he took complete advantage of it. He had to have her every night and most mornings before work.

XXX

Randie moved slowly that morning. Matt woke her in the night. She loved his touch and he seemed to crave it so much, but sometimes he wanted her so much it left her legs sore the next morning. Actually, that day, her entire body hurt. She smiled when she thought about the way he moved her around in that bed. She loved the way he growled and bit his lip when he was trying to hold in his moans. And the way he picked up Olivia when she cried melted her heart. He smiled as he rocked her and kissed her little head. Olivia seemed to be the only one that could make him smile when he came home from work. She wasn't sure if he accepted her as his child or not. He never said anything about it and it did hurt a lot that he questioned her paternity.

Maybe she was crazy to stay. She knew she loved Matt and she knew he loved her but she wasn't sure if it was the same kind of love. Maybe he was just trying to do the right thing because he'd fathered her child. Maybe he was just trying to make his family happy and what he felt was just fondness of a childhood friend. She spent the day so confused, but then at night when he touched her, he made her forget what she was so depressed about. His touch was so gentle. He kiss so passionate and she dismissed everything. Telling herself he was just tired from work.

That weekend she was glad Matt stayed home. She was so worried that he had gone back to work too soon. That virus had hit him so hard that she worried that he wouldn't wake up every time he went to sleep. He was so stubborn. But she loved that about him too.

"Where are you going?" Matt asked when she stepped out on the porch pulling her hood over her head.

"To feed Olivia – Aunt Peg used the last of the milk I pumped for her." She felt like a child when she spoke to him. She still couldn't shake her fear of men. Of large men. Even though Matt was the only man who had touched her gently, she still feared his temper. And he had a bad temper. As as she spent more time with him, she realized he was a bit controlling and that scared her even more.

"It's raining." He gazed at the rain that ahd been falling so hard all day. His entire yard was flooded. She just bowed her head and started out. She didn't want her aunt to bring Olivia out in the rain.  
"I'll take you." Matt was right behind her, digging his keys out of his pocket.

"You must be Matt." Her aunt greeted them with a smile, wiping her hands on her apron. She loved her aunt so much. She was a down to Earth woman who loved to bake. She was very petite and walked with a limp from one leg being shorter than the other. She wore a shoe with a inch build up on her left leg and had worn it for as long as Randie could remember. "Now, I have a face to put with all of Randie's stories."

"Nice to meet you maam."

"Let me get you some coffee. It really is coming down out there. You must be freezing." She made Matt follow her into the kitchen, taking his hand and pulling him along till she reached the bar. "Sit down. Sit down." She jestered to the bar stool. "I just made some chocolate chip cookies and they are still hot." She slid a plateful of cookies in front of Matt that had come directly off the cookie sheet. Randie snickered. Aunt Peg was always pushing sweets on her. It was amazing she hadn't grew as wide as the house since she'd begun staying with the woman.

"I see where Randie gets it." Matt laughed after tasted a cookie.  
"Oh, and this came today." Her Aunt went to a bowl on the far counter where she liked to throw the mail until she was ready to look at it. "I'm sorry I insisted on it, but at the time you had ticked me off just a little bit." Aunt Peg had insisted on a paternity test after Randie had come home crying. She believed Randie with all her heart and it seemed to would her everytime someone hurt her niece. "I think you should open it." She handed the envelope to Matt even though it was addressed to Randie.

Randie went into the other room and picked up her baby. She didn't need to read the results. She already knew. And she tried to understand how Matt could be skeptical. She knew how it looked. She did have to spend a lot of time with Logan. The whole town thought that Logan was her boyfriend. They didn't know she loathed him. That her father made her go out with him. They didn't know about Matt. Most of them probably assumed that Logan was Olivia's father just as Matt had. Of course, the way Matt put it, he assumed she had had many partners. She just never imagined that he would doubt her. She'd always thought he would know, but that was a silly fantasy. Any man in his situation would have wondered.

Matt entered the room. He walked up to her as she fed Olivia and touched her head gently then turned a soft gaze towards Randie.

"The rain's stopped." She adverted her gaze towards the large picture window. He bent down and kissed her, cupping her face in his hands. Then he touched his forehead to hers.

"What are you thinking?" He asked, his eyes closed.

"I'm wondering what you're thinking." She sighed. She knew for him, having even more to worry about couldn't be the best news in the world.

"I'm thinking I need to marry you as soon as possible."


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)

* * *

Chapter 14

Matt stood in front of the cracked, full length mirror in his room and tied his bow tie. He was calm. He wasn't a bit nervous.

"Ready?" His father gave him a scrutinizing glare.

"Yup." No one could talk him out of it. He pushed his father's wheelchair down the dirt driveway and entered the neighbor's yard. It was a small affair. In her Aunt's garden. He stood in front of a flower lined trellis. The minister of the local church stood in the center. He didn't know most of the people sitting in the chairs, but they whispered to each other, alternating glances at him.

"You're taking this too far." Jeff mumbled out of the side of his mouth. "I sure hope you know what you're doing."

"It's only a matter of time before she takes off." Matt whispered back. "There's no way I'm letting her take off with my kid." Matt knew the law well enough to know that if he married her he had as much right to Olivia as Randie did. Not to mention the fact that he knew he couldn't afford to pay child support, which he expected to be sued for. She put his name on the birth certificate and they had gotten a paternity test done. There had to be a reason her aunt had paid for it and he didn't believe it was just so he would know. He could support a child easier in his home and he really wanted Olivia.

Rather Randie realized it or not, she just made it harder for herself to take off. It sure would keep the help he needed around longer. She wouldn't leave without Olivia and there was no way he was going to let her take his child with her. His mind was made up about that. All he needed was for her to go through it. All he needed was for her to say yes and half of his problem would be solved. Maybe more if she brought some of her family's money with her.

Music began to play from a small CD player set up on a table behind the rows of chairs. Only Randie's aunt walked out. Randie's only bridesmaid wore a dress suit type outfit with a flower corsage on her wrist. He had his hands in his pockets as he waited. He didn't expect anything amazing. Love wasn't some fairytale. It wasn't some romantic evening or crazy … Randie walked out. His hands come out of his pockets and his was in complete awe.

Her dress complimented her every curve, all the way to the waist and it flowed out in billowy fabric making her look like an angel walking towards him with the sun glittering off the sequins on the top of the gown and in her upswept hair. She didn't carry a bouquet. Only their daughter, dressed in sweet little white gown.

When he reached him she smiled just as she had when they were kids. He hadn't seen that smile on her in a long time. She looked radiant and happy. He kissed Olivia and touched a hand to her cheek and his forehead to hers.  
"You're so beautiful." That was one thing he had always thought of her.

"Family and friends." The preacher began and Randie handed Olivia to her aunt and they took each other's hands. He just couldn't take his eyes off of her and for a moment he forgot why he was doing what he was doing. He just couldn't believe someone like her was really going to go through with marrying someone like him. "If there is anyone in attendance who has cause to believe that this couple should not be joined in marriage, you may speak now or forever hold your peace."

He could tell that his father and Jeff wanted to say something. He could see it in their eyes and on their twitching mouths, but they stayed silent.

The exchanged sacred, traditional vows, rings as a symbol of their commitment and then

"You may kiss the bride." And Matt sealed her lips with a long, almost too passionate kiss.

"May I present, Mr. And Mrs, Matthew Hardy." Everyone clapped. Including his father who looked at him with reprimand.  
"Mine." He cupped her face in her hands and chuckled as they sat at a long table. Her aunt had set up their reception in the backyard. It wasn't over the top. Everything was simple and he couldn't imagine it being more beautiful. He still couldn't believe that this girl, had said really married him. Randie Parker. The one who was always the prettiest girl in town, well her and Jaycee but that was always feverishly debated among the old gossips. "I can't believe you're my wife."

She just smiled meekly. She seemed so honestly humbled by his every compliment. He touched his finger to her bare shoulder and traced her soft skin. His heart was so ready to give in. If only memories of the past didn't keep reminding him why he was so angry at her. Then thought of her leaving. She never came to him. He would have taken care of her, even if he had doubts about being the father. He would have been there, but instead she'd just left town. And he'd really had no clue. He missed seeing his child born because she had been selfish and he couldn't get that moment back and he just couldn't forgive her.

"Well."

"Jake, you better remember yourself." He heard Randie's uncle who sat on the other side of the table say. Randie's smile faded and he looked up to see her father, her stepmother and Jaycee who strangely had not been in the audience during the ceremony.

"Remember myself?" her father said, taking and empty seat at the end of the table next to his daughter. "I'm not going to cause trouble. I'm hurt that I wasn't invited to my own daughter's wedding. Hell, I'm hurt that she'd came back after running off who knows were for over a year and a half and no one thought to tell me where she was or that she was even alright."

Matt looked at Randie inquisitively. He had no idea that her father didn't know she was back and living with her aunt. He wondered why she would hide from her family.

"Congratulations sweetheart." He leaned forward and kissed Randie's cheek. "I hope you will very happy." He extended a hand to Matt who reciprocated. "You've grown a lot since I last saw you kid."

'Thank you sir. I'm glad you could make it."

"Well, I had to move some things around. But I wouldn't miss it for the world."

XXX

Randie didn't know how to take her father's sudden appearance at her wedding. She had been the happiest she had ever been in her life until he showed up. Jaycee sat with a smirk on her face. She knew what she thought about her choice in a husband, but she didn't care what Jaycee or her mother thought about Matt and his family. She felt honored that Matt let her become a part of it.

Her uncle announced it was time for them to dance their first dance and Matt led her to the wooden dance floor set up in their yard. She laid her head on Matt's shoulder and let out a breath. She held him close. Even her father couldn't rip her from his arms. Not this time. Not ever again. He had signed papers. Given Aunt Peg full guardianship. His exact words were he didn't want to fool with reporting her missing. Which was good because Aunt Peg knew along where she was and Aunt Peg signed the marriage license, given her permission to marry before she was eighteen. Her father would have never done that.

She relaxed in Matt's embraced. She felt free for the first time in her life.

She sat back down at the table with him and watched him. He was all smiles. He greeted people, mostly friends of her Aunt's and Uncle's. Some people she had met, some she hadn't. They all gave him cards and well wishes and he beamed and kissed her cheek.

They cut the cake together, crisscrossed a wine glass of sparkling grape juice and picture were taken from every angle. She felt a little dizzy from all the flash or maybe it was her fluttering heart that couldn't' believe she had married the boy she had loved most of her life.

His brother's all hugged her, the younger ones estactic. His father gave her a long hug and even managed to stand long enough to dance with her. When he was tired, Jeff cut in.

"Watch out for him." Jeff kidded her and jutted a chin at his older brother. "He can be a real ass."

"I know." She said softly. "But I knew that before I married him, so I have to deal with that right?"

"Yeah." He sighed and then Matt cut in.

"Your family is very generous." He told her. "I think they stuffed money in every card."

"I think they just didn't know what to buy." She still couldn't speak normally when she spoke to him. But right then her biggest fear wasn't him striking her. She was worried that she would disappoint him. That she wouldn't be good enough for him. He worked so hard. She just hoped she could be the wife he needed and deserved.

The day went by so fast. The sun was setting and the guests began to leave. She swayed with Matt so many times on that dance floor. More than she had ever expected to and it seemed that someone was always coming to bid them farewell and luck. Matt would thank them and she would smile. Soon, no one was left but immediate family. Her father lingered much to her chagrin, but he hadn't said or done anything threatening towards her and she knew he would hang around until the liquor was gone.

"I'm getting hungry." Matt said when they returned to the table. The people Aunt Peg had rented the tables and chairs from returned to pick them. The only one they owned was the one they sat at so she didn't have to worry about getting up. "Are you hungry?" They had both eaten the simple buffet they had set up for reception, but it had been very little. They had been very busy greeting people and talking. "I'll get you something." He said sweetly and pecked her cheek.

"I guess you're happy." Her father never left his seat, chugging one drink after another.

"I am." She said meekly. She wasn't scared. Not anymore. He had never struck her front of Aunt Peg and her Uncle. And she knew he wouldn't dare do it in front of the Hardy's. Besides he had no authority over her anymore and it seemed like it was a relief to him as well.

"Here sweetie." Aunt Peg brought Olivia to her. "I think she wants her Mama." Her aunt had kept that child with her the entire day. She refused to give her up, parading her around the party, showing her off so proudly. The way her father stared at her, she knew he'd had no idea that she'd had a child or had even been pregnant. He stared with big wild eyes and sipped on his beer.

"Here you go." Matt sat a plate with a slice of a sub she had cut up herself that morning.

"thank you." She said and re positioned Olivia.

"let me hold her." Matt's father was at her side, lifting her out her arms. "I haven't got to hold my granddaughter all day and you have barely gotten to eat."

"I forgot a drink." Matt rushed off again.

"You really are the slut aren't you?" Her father snapped, then his hand shot out and connected with her cheek so hard it knocked her from the chair she was sitting in.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)

* * *

Chapter 15

Matt didn't know what came over him. He'd just reached across the table to set down the drinks he had gotten. He'd planned to go back and help his twin brothers get the second slice of cake they wanted when Randie's father struck her. And he just flew across the table, tackled the guy to the ground and sat on top him, punching him repeatedly with every ounce of strength he had and he had intentions of stopping his attack.

"Matt!" Jeff and a few of his friends from work grabbed him and pulled him off of the guy, but he shoved them off and went back to his attack. "Stop! You're gonna kill the bastard! Matt!"

They finally pulled him away.

"Get off me!" He shouted at them, shrugging them off. His eyes fell on Randie sitting on the ground, crying, her hand on her face. He went to her and cupped her face in his hands. Her lip was split and little blood slipped from the cut. "You okay?" She nodded. Her eyes were full of tears and her look of shock looked a more like a look of fear. He was sure he had scared her going off like he did. But he couldn't help it. He didn't even know he was capable of it himself. He'd actually scared himself a little bit.

"You are an ungrateful brat." Her father bellowed when he got to his feet.  
"Get the hell out of here." Matt had helped Randie to her feet and he held her close. "I'll kill you, you son of bitch." He hugged his wife. "If you ever touch her again. I'll kill you." He fussed over Randie as he locked eyes with the old man.

"Don't care about her, huh?" Jeff mumbled close to his ear as he passed him.

But no one should have hit her like that. Not on that day. It was her wedding for goodness sakes. He'd had his eyes on her. She hadn't said anything to that man. He was just a drunk. A violent drunk it seemed. She was really shaken up. "Are you ready to go home?"

She nodded, still frozen like a zombie as she watched her father shoved off her aunt's property. It seemed the entire evening had been ruined, but at least the day had been wonderful. The wedding and the reception had technically been over and he hoped this didn't taint the memory for her. Maybe he did have ulterior motives for marrying Randie but for some reason he wanted her memory of marrying him to be good one.

She seemed cold so he placed his jacket over her shoulders and walked toward his home with his arm around her and her head on his shoulder. He heard the chatter of his brothers behind him. They all seemed sleepy. He could hear the crankiness in their voice and his father already had Cameron asleep on his lap as Sloan pushed his chair up the drive way.

"Where are you going?" He asked her when she headed to his bedroom as soon as they entered the house.  
"I'm going to change." She whispered.  
"Uh-uh." He smiled and pulled her back to him. "You're not taking that dress off until I take it off of you." He playfully kissed her neck, making her laugh at the way he tickled it. Hopefully making her forget what had happened. Then he dangled a set of keys. "I got a set of keys for this weekend."

Her mouth dropped in awe. They hadn't planned on a honeymoon. He couldn't afford one and she hadn't complained at all. But her uncle wouldn't have it, giving him the keys to his cabin on the lake.

"But who's going to take care …" He put a finger to her lips.

"Jeff's here and your aunt is keeping Oliva. They will be fine for a couple of days." She seemed so sincere about the welfare of his family. Maybe that was who she had really fallen in love with, he thought as he stared into her eyes.

He glanced at her body, lingering on the cleavage that poked out of the top of her dress. He knew he was going to have fun that night. He didn't have to worry about making too much noise or waking up his family. He had plans. Plans to see just how experienced she was.

XXX

It was easy to forget her father's abuse when Matt carried her into the cabin that night. He placed her on her feet and left her side only long enough to close the door, then he was back, holding her, kissing her, tracing the bodice of her dress until he found the zipper. She had bought a pretty silky night gown to wear for him, but he hadn't given her a chance to put it on.

He nuzzled her neck and she just closed her eyes, drinking in all of his tenderness.

"All day, I kept thinking about us when we were kids." He whispered. "I remember saying that would never fight with my wife." He laughed. "I guess I screwed that up already."

"We don't fight, Matt."

He chuckled.

"And you said you were never getting married."

"I wouldn't have married anyone else." She stared deep into his eyes. "I love you."

He answered by closing his mouth upon hers. She didn't have to hear him say the words. She felt it in his touch, in his kiss and the saw it in the sparkle of his eyes even though he sometimes looked at her with a look that was almost sad. Like he was afraid he was going to lose her at any moment.

"I don't think you've ever gone down on me." He chuckled as he glanced down at his manhood. Her mouth fell open and she wasn't sure how to respond or what to do. She had never done that before and he had never asked before. He guided her down.

"You act so innocent. It really turns me on."

Act?

XXX

Monday morning she was awoken by a loud knock on the door. Matt groaned. He had switched shifts with a coworker and had planned to sleep in that morning.

"Shit." He moaned as the visitor knocked loudly again. "I'm not in the mood for this shit today." He went for the door while she dressed. She picked up Olivia from her bassinet. The twins were already up. She could hear them playing in the living room and they flew to her the minute Matt opened the door and clung to her legs.

A woman entered with a clipboard in her hand. She wasn't that old, but she wore glasses and strict grey dress suit and her hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. Her stern gaze around the apartment intimated Randie as well as the kids. She didn't look friendly at all. And she said nothing more than good morning as she walked in and gazed around the home with a look of disgust.

"It looks better than it did last time." She said disdainfully than her eyes fell on Randie. She sat down on the sofa and opened the briefcase she had with her. She took out a lot of forms. Matt's father must have heard the social worker arrive because he rolled out of his room and polite greeted the guests. The other boys entered in their pajamas and meekly stood behind the sofa. Randie had never seen so much trepidation in the family's expressions before.

"Please Sit." The woman spat as if they were in her home and not the other way around. Matt had to gently guide the twins to sit on the floor and he gave her a sympathetic – or embarrassed smile as they sat on the couch together. "This is not acceptable." She said pointing at Randie. "You are living together?"

"Yes maam." Matt said. "With young children in the home? We frown on premarital affairs Mr. Hardy."

"I hardly think that's your business, Miss Foster." Matt's father spat at her. "They are married."

"And you have an infant here." She went on. "This place is barely suitable for the small children you already have here. Six underage children now and three adults and three bedrooms?"

"Four." Matt corrected.

"Oh yes." She said with mocking. "The addition you built. You still have no walls and no carpet I see. Is that were the infant sleeps? With you and your girlfriend?" She didn't give them a chance to answer before she got up and inspected the kitchen. She swept her foot across the torn linoleum, opened all the cabinets and ran her finger over the counters. Then she went to the refrigerator and pulled out the leftovers from the night before and brought it to her nose. "What was this?"

"Why don't you open the lid and find out!" Matt snapped at her. She just glanced at him, put the bowl back, and then went on with her inspection. She went into both the rooms the boy's occupied.

"Beds unmade. Clothes on floor."

"Of course their unmade." Randie handed the baby to Matt and stood up."

XXX

Randie, who never spoke a word stomped across the room and peered over Miss Foster's shoulder. Matt didn't know what to do. He didn't need any more trouble and here this girl who he thought would be a help to him was about to bring a whole heap of it. He never would have imagined it. She was always quiet. She never spoke. Never spoke her mind.

"Of course their unmade. Everyone just got out of bed." Randie spoke like a woman twice her age. "And those clothes were from last night. How many children do you know that put their clothes in the hamper?" She put a hand on her hip. "This is a good family. That man works his ass off taking care of everyone and you have the nerve to come in here and put them down. You who has probably never even put your hands in dish water. This house is clean. The children are fed and warm."

Matt and his father shared a glance. He didn't know what was more shocking, the forceful way Randie spoke or the way the social worker hand fluttered to her throat.

"Randie that is enough." Matt handed the baby to Jeff and was at her side. "What are you doing?" He was sure she was trying to sabotage his entire life. Sure she was trying to wound him in some other way like it was truly nothing more than a game to her. But it wasn't a game. It was his life. His family. "Sit down." He barked at her making her jump. Apparently, disappointing him brought fear to her eyes instantly. And he was mad at her. Extremely mad and he couldn't hide it. He could barely contain it.

"Look, I'm doing the best that I can here." He said to the social worker.

"Six months." She spat. "and there has been no improvement." The social worker jutted up her chin and regained her composure. "Your girlfriend has to move out." The lady was back to spitting out demands, looking her nose down at him. Oh, he wished he could tell her what he thought, but unlike Randie he had a lot to lose.

"She's my wife." He informed her.

"Hmm. And you have a sitter for your father and your brothers now?"

"Randie stays with them." He lowered his head.

"Well, I don't think that's going to be an option. She's obviously got anger issues. She's not a safe choice."

Matt felt his head begin to throb. The woman was taking away his only option. He couldn't' afford anything else. The woman obviously lived an easy life. She didn't understand how he couldn't do the things she insisted he do. He stared daggers at Randie.

"I'm going to give you an address. You and your wife need to be there a ten a.m. tomorrow morning."

"Why?"

"I think you both should undergo a mental evaluation. You can't be normal, having taking care of this family from child hood and I think your _wife_ is a threat to your family and until she has under gone an evaluation she cannot be here. "

"Randie is not a threat to us." Sloan spat at the woman. "She is our sister and she takes care of us."

"Do not speak out of turn young man." She snapped at the young kid. "Sit down and don't speak until you are spoken to."

"I think you need to leave." Randie spat, putting herself between the social worker and Sloan. "Now."

"I will leave and when I come back I'm bringing the authorities to remove …"

"You do that. I'll make sure your supervisor is here when you do."

Matt grabbed Randie's arm and forcefully dragged her into his bedroom.

"What the hell are you doing?" Matt growled, backing her up till her knees hit the bed, forcing her to plop down upon it. "Oh now you're quiet." He snapped when she stared back at him those big doe eyes with fear covering her face and it pissed him off even more that seeing her like that softened him.

"I think I've seen enough." The social worker clicked her pen closed, picked up her bag and walked out the door.

"Get out." Matt stormed around the room, gathering what little she had brought with her. He shoved it all in her backpack. "Get your things and get the hell out!"

She sobbed uncontrollably as he took her arm and forced her out of his bedroom. She headed for Olivia.

"No." he cut her off before she could get to the playpen. "You're not taking her."

Her face was streaked with tears. She shook as he screamed at her, but he pushed it out of his mind, remembering why he was angry. He continued his rage, letting her know he wasn't going calm down or change his mind. Not this time.

"Matt!" his father bellowed at him. "Stop it!"

He turned and looked at his family. His younger brothers all looked terrified of him. Jeff's jaw was dropped and his father looked like he wanted to whoop is ass. They had never seen him go off like that before. He'd always been the strong one, the rock.

"Fine." He snapped. "You all want her here! Fine! I'll leave!" He stormed out the door, stomped toward his truck and spun tires out of the drive way. An angry rage obscured his thoughts. He couldn't think straight. He blamed himself for letting lust and a fond memory cloud his judgement.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)

* * *

Chapter 16

Matt didn't have to worry about figuring out what to do about Randie. She left him. When he returned she had taken Olivia and every trace that she had ever been in life. Except for one thing. His mother's ring. She left it sitting on his night stand.

"Matt!" he heard Sloan yell. "The police are here."

He rushed out of the room, swung open the front door and his heart dropped. The social worker was back and she brought not one, but two officers with her. Another car, obviously belonging to a government worker was coming up the drive way.

The social worker pushed passed him, invading his home without a word to hint of what she was going to do.

"Step outside, sir." The officer insisted before going inside. They wouldn't even let him in his own home.

"What is this?" he asked as the woman came out, holding the hands of his youngest brothers.

"I'm removing these children." She spat at him.

"No!" Both the twins screamed as she forced them to out of their home. She placed them in the back of her car and Matt sunk to the front porch swing. He could hear them crying. He could hear Jeff arguing with the people. He heard Sloan asking why?

"I'm not going any damn where." His father yelled.

"Sir you are not able to care for yourself." He'd never met the social worker who insisted on him going with her, but he knew the woman was not going to convince his father to go willingly. And Marty ran to him and clung to his neck while the social worker tried to pry him away.

He felt lower than he ever had in his life. He was helpless. He couldn't protect his family and for some reason he couldn't shake the image of the finger print he had left on Randie's arm.

After his family had been loaded into the waiting vehicles, Matt was called inside and the door was shut. He didn't like the sound of his home. He'd never heard it so quiet before and he couldn't concentrate or absorb the information the social workers were spitting out at him.

There was another knock on the door. He went to answer it, unsure of who it could be. He hoped it wasn't a bill collector. They had never come to the door before but it would be just his kind of luck the way the day was going so far.

"Hello, Matt."

"Randie's not here." He said sadly.

"This isn't a social call I'm afraid." She said with a sympathetic smile. On closer look he saw she too was caring a clipboard. Great. Another woman in a suit. Another case worker. That was all he needed. No one she'd walked right past all the people in his yard.

"I'm Margret Parker with the department of social services." She extended her hand to the officer who'd come up on the porch.

"We are ready to leave ma'am." They told her.

"No, not yet." She looked at Matt. "May I – come in?" Matt stepped to the side and watched her examine his home as her colleague had, but she had a smile on her face.

"Miss Foster." She turned to the younger social worker. "I've had a complaint about how you're handling this case."

"Ma'am?" her voice shuttered.

"Tell me what exactly is the problem with this home is?"

"Ma'am, there are three and a half bedrooms and nine people."

"My paperwork says seven."

"He now has a woman and baby living here." She added. "And the young lady seems to be a threat …"

"The young lady is my niece and she had every right to ask you to leave her home." She stated.

"Miss Foster. I grew up in a two bedroom home. At one time my uncle lost his job and he, his wife and their five children came to live with us. A month after that, my mother's father had a stroke and he came to stay. We had eleven people in our home Miss Foster for over six years."

"Things are different. There are rules."  
"Rules?" The older later looked at her. "This home is clean. The children look healthy and happy. Mr. Hardy seems well cared for, not to mention he is still a grown man who can still do a great deal for himself. Don't patronize him. He's a hardworking man who became disabled. He's not an invalid child. And this young man has been working hard all his life. I don't know many his age who would do what he has done." She looked at her paperwork. "This case has been open six months, Miss Foster and I have yet to see any reports come across my desk. So, if you please, what are your recommendations for this family?"

Miss foster curled up her pointy little nose. "My recommendation is that this family would be better off in the state's care. There is not enough room, not enough finances and not enough care."

"Not enough care?"

"Mr. Hardy can't be alone and there is no one above the age of fourteen supervising these children."

"My niece is home all day. It sounds to me like your decision is based on some kind of prejudice." "No ma'am."

"Hmmm. I don't know if you're aware of this, but I have lived next door to this family for years."

Miss Foster turned pale again.

"I witnessed fighting in front of the small children and I myself was attacked. That is not healthy for these children. And it is not healthy for the children to be exposed to an inappropriate relationship."

"What's inappropriate about their relationship?"

"They were only recently married and she spent nights here before …"  
"Miss Foster you live with a man who is not the father of your small child." She reminded. "Are you married?"

"No, but."  
"Is your child in a dangerous environment?"

"No."

"Oh, so it's only people whose daddy doesn't pay their bills who are setting bad examples?" she set narrowed her eyes. "Miss Foster and I don't like the way you have handled this case. I will take it over myself and I am suspending you for the remainder of the week while I review your other cases."  
"Fine." Miss Foster warned. "But I'm going above your head. You are related to this family and that's a conflict of interest."

"No ma'am, it's called avoiding a lawsuit." She spat in a very sweet voice, much like Randie's. "You failed to offer services that this family needs. Which if provided they could have been able to put money into other things they desperate need. What they need is another bedroom and walls and flooring for the one they've tried to construct. We have companies who donate supplies and their time for things like that. Yet you've done nothing but demand that they do things that are impossible to do with their means. You're lucky I don't fire you. Miss Foster. The children will remain here until I have time to evaluate them, then I will make that call."

"I will have your job." Miss Foster sneered before storming out of the room.

"Children." The woman turned her attention back to him. "It's all they send me these days."

"I didn't know you worked for social services." Matt put his hands in his pockets. "Thank you."

"This wasn't a favor Matt. If I had come in here and saw a need to remove your family, I would have."

Matt nodded his head.

"I have some paperwork I need you to fill out." She sat down at his table as his brothers came in and hugged his neck. "I know you are proud, but these are things you should have been offered at the beginning." She laid a hand on his shoulder. "I know how hard you work, but this is a big family and you've had a lot fall on you that one person just can't do alone. It's just not possible. This will help and I don't want you to feel like you've failed."

"It's welfare." Matt groaned. "How does that not make me a failure?"

"This is not welfare." She corrected. "Your family needs insurance. This insurance just happens to be based on income. That's what it's here for."

It didn't sound so bad the way Peg Parker explained things to him. It honestly made him feel relieved because it would pay for thing three months prior to filling out the application. Which mean a lot of doctor bills would be paid and his father wouldn't be turned away from appointments because he owed for past visits.

"I still don't have anyone to stay with my dad and the boys." He sighed. "School starts back soon. I could move to another shift. Jeff could stop working and be home in the evenings after school, but I don't know what to do until then."

"You don't have to change anything." She said with a laugh.

"Randie left me." He lowered his head. He felt ashamed especially admitting it to a woman who had been nothing but nice to him, even though she obviously was as well off as the rest of the town.

"Randie is not going to abandon your father or brothers." She told him. "But as far as you and her – well that's something I can't help you with." She stood over him in a way he found authoritive. He could tell she was a tough, confident lady desptier her size and sweet disposition. "Young man, Randie has not had an easy life. She's endured and survived things that no human being should have to."

"Spare me." Matt's attitude returned. His bitterness returned. "This is a hard life." He said throwing his hands to show his home.

"Hard?" Peg Parker sneered. "Yes, it is hard to have to be the sole provider for a family. Yes it is hard to have to do so much at the age you had to start doing it, but you, young man. You are richer than most the people in this town."

"Ha!"

"You have love." She told him. "You know what you mean to each other."

"Are you saying Randie didn't have love?" Matt laughed. "Seriously? All families love each other. Even if they don't show it the same way."

"Randie never had family." She spat. "You're a cynical little hypocrite." She hissed. "You hate. You despise the people in this town. They gossip about you, yes. But you don't know what their lives are like and you are no better than they are. They look down on you for having nothing and you look down on them for what they have. You're just the same."

"I am not like them."

"You have no compassion for the suffering outside of your own. You're not like them?" she slung the strap of her briefcase over her shoulder. "I think you are."

"And you do?"

"I care about that girl." She told him pulling an old newspaper article out of her bag. "Even if she's not my niece."

Matt came face to face with the photo of a toddler side by side with an age progressed rendering that looked an awful lot like Randie. She was a missing child. An abducted child.

"Jake Parker didn't just sign custody over to me." She stated. "It was given to me. She doesn't know yet and I just don't know how to tell her. How do you explain to someone that they've gone through a life of hell just because someone wanted to make a quick buck? How do I tell her that she was stolen?"

"That makes no sense. Don't the cops take a child into custody when they find them?"

"They didn't find her." Peg Parker admitted. "I found evidence in a box in my attic and thankfully I know some powerful people and have banked plenty of favors. That girl's been through enough." Peg Parker showed him what she could be under her sweet exterior, protecting what she loved and wanted by all means necessary and she obviously cared a lot about Randie. "She doesn't need any more from you."


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)

* * *

Chapter 17

Matt sat at the diner the next morning. He'd begun to realize a lot about himself. Things that he had never thought he was. But Peg Parker pointed them out easily and he felt horrible for it. He looked at the women in the diner. He'd seen them every single day for years. Every morning he'd come in there, ordered his coffee and sat. He dismissed the ladies waiting on the customers. They owned a restaurant. They had it made and they sat around gossiping about everyone else. It was always quiet that time of morning. Only a few people came in to grab a takeout order for breakfast or to have for their lunch that day, but he'd never looked up from his own cup.

He did that day and he saw that the older of the sisters was missing three fingers on her left hand. The other sigh as she dusted an old picture of a man in a military uniform. He sat there for hours that morning watching the people come and go.

Like the Sawyer lady who lived in the two story house on the hill. The one with the big oak trees in the front and expensive wicker furniture on the porch. She came in juggling grocery bag and a toddler in her arms. She had two small girls hanging onto the belt on her hip and a nine year old trailing close with grocery bags in both arms.

"Car broke down." She excused. "I don't know what else is going to go wrong this week."

"He's still hasn't come back?" One of the sister's asked as she showed the new girl they'd hired how to use the cash register.

"No." She smiled weakly and took the bag they handed to her.

"Poor thing." Maggie, the oldest of the sisters shook her head. "Her husband took off and cleaned out her bank account. It couldn't have been a lot. She's works for a travel agency. At least she has that nice house her daddy left her."

"Hey there, cutie."

Matt rolled his eyes. Logan Mitchell leaned over the counter at the diner flirting with the new waitress. She was a young thing. Barely out of high school and she was smiling ear to ear. Matt still loathed him. Still thought he was scum. The waitress was still smiling when Logan left the diner, turning to her two elderly coworkers as she tucked Logan's number in her apron pocket.

"Oh my goodness." She giggled. "He is so cute."

"And rich too. That's the mayor's son." Maggie, the woman who had served him his coffee every morning since he'd started working first at the plant said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but you don't want to get tangled up with him." Sara, was Maggie's slightly younger sister said as the three sat down on the stools for a break. "He's got a temper."

"Yeah, I heard that Logan showed up at his girlfriend's house and saw another boy climbing out her window or something like that. That's enough to make anyone snap I guess. I heard he went crazy."

"I heard he caught them by the river." Sara interrupted her sister.

"I don't know, but," Maggie sipped her coffee. "It's really a shame. Randie Parker was always so pretty, but I can't imagine something like that wouldn't leave behind a permanent scar. Doc Peterson was doing his shift at the E.R. last night when her aunt brought her in. He said her face was so swollen he couldn't didn't even recognize the child. Said she was busted open so bad he had to use stitches."

"A girl that pretty usually does have more than one beaux. I bet she'll be smarter now." Maggie gave the new waitress one of those 'I hope you're not that dumb' gazes.

"Her aunt said that she and Logan weren't even dating anymore." Sara said.

"I wonder where her father was during all of this. Passed out drunk probably." Maggie sighed. "I've heard rumors that he's not even her father."

"What?"

"He stole her. Been holding the child for ransom for years and then I heard her parents died and he tried to sell her, but got stuck with her instead and he took it out on the poor thing."

"Well, that explains all those bruises she kept getting when she was growing up." Sara quipped. "The whole thing sounds like a lot of exaggerations if you ask me. If he kidnapped that child, he would be in jail. They wouldn't be waiting around to arrest him."

"Peg Parker has her hand in it." They exchanged a knowing expression. "You know she's always wanted that girl."

"Any way. I haven't seen Randie since Logan attacked her that day. He got off because of his daddy's name. She ran off and I'm guessing she's still hiding where ever she ran to."

Matt felt sick to his stomach. He wondered why he hadn't heard anything. Why he didn't hear a scream or anything that day. Why Logan hadn't come after him. He had seen him. He had watched them. Why hadn't he confronted him about it?

And he couldn't believe he didn't know that Randie had been abused all her life. It was so obvious from the time they had first met to their recent lives. She jumped when he yelled. She cringed when he touched her. She was terrified to make even the smallest mistake.

Damn. He had been so stupid, so blind and Peg Parker was right about him.

He was supposed to go to work, but instead he went home. Randie avoided him, coming after he left for work and he knew she would leave before he got home. But he couldn't let it end like that.

He stormed into the house. Glanced around. He saw Randie at the sink doing the dishes. She looked as if she were hyperventilating the moment she saw him and took a step back for every commanding step he took towards her. He hated that look of fear in her eyes, the one that stared up at him as he trapped her against the wall, one hand on either side of her head. She placed hands on his chest, in a dull effort to ward him off. He grabbed both of her wrists held them to her side and dropped his lips upon hers.

"This belongs on your finger." He held a pair of tiny rings in his fingertips. He didn't like the way her hand looked without them. He hadn't removed his and he never planned to. "I'm been a jerk. I've been angry and I shouldn't have yelled at you, but I hope you know that I will never hurt you." He ran a finger over the faint healing bruise on her upper arm. "I didn't mean this and I promise I will never do it again."

"I don't think you're the man I've always believed you to be." She whispered. "It was a fantasy that I built you up to be and it's silly for me to think you could live up to it."

"Let me try." He begged.

"Fine." She relented, pulling his hand away from her cheek. "But only for Olivia. I'm not sure how I feel about you right now."


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer:** The characters in my stories are completely made up characters and have temporally been given borrowed names for the sole purpose of satisfying the qualifications for posting on this fanfiction site. These stories are fiction and should be perceived as such. They in no way reflect the lives, beliefs or views of any persons living or dead and any similarities are coincidental. I am not affiliated with any company or professional wrestler in any way. No disrespect or copyright infringement intended. And if any of my favs happen upon my stories, I hope your not offended because this is not about you, it is about feedback on my story ideas. :) I love and respect what you do and I thank you for all the joy and entertainment over the years.

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Thanks for reading :)

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Chapter 18

For the first time, Randie denied Matt. He wanted her so badly that it hurt and when he touched her that night, she turned away, took Olivia and went to her Aunts. He had hoped she would move back in, but he guessed he had messed up more than he realized.

It turned out that Randie knew what she was doing when she spoke up to the social worker. She knew they were being harassed by a woman on a power trip and he should have been calmer. If he had she probably would have told him that her Aunt Peg was a social worker and that she held a position that could put an end to all of it. All he managed to end was his marriage.

How ironic. He had wanted to be the one to cast her aside and once he had he regretted it almost instantly.

Life was looking up for him. The insurance Peg Parker helped him get paid the doctor bills. She managed to get the hospital to settle some of the past bills his father owed when his mother got sick. Some were dropped so low it amazed him. He felt like a big weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He could relax and smile more. He didn't feel like he had to work so much and he had more time to spend tending to the farm.

He got a promotion at work when he started to show a personality. The maintenance foreman job came with a bonus, an increase in wages and every weekend off. But none of it helped him with Randie. She didn't come on the weekends. He never saw her. He was lucky if he could talk to her on the phone. He didn't know what he could do to win her back and as time went on he felt himself giving up. He began to expect divorce papers. He began to accept that he had done something that changed her heart. Hell, those small bruises he left on her arm haunted him and he didn't think he deserved her.

"Oh!"

One Saturday afternoon, Matt was cleaning out the barn's loft, throwing old hay out the side door. The roof was leaking and the big metal washtubs he'd stuck to catch it were full and when he threw the water out of the loft, he heard a surprised squeal. He looked down to see Randie, standing like a statue, soaked and shocked by the chilly water.

"Shit!" He grabbed the rope hanging off the barn and lowered himself to the ground. "I swear I didn't do it on purpose." He rushed over, expecting her to throw a Jaycee level fit, But instead, Randie laughed and handed him a big yellow envelope.

"I saw you in the field and I didn't want to wake your dad. He's asleep in his chair on the porch."

"Oh, thanks. He doesn't sleep well these days." She was wearing a white shirt and he couldn't pull his gaze away from the now see through material.

"I know."

"Yeah, you do." He agreed. "What's this?"

"Aunt Peg sent them. She said she didn't want to wait to Monday to tell you that your case has been closed."

"That's the best news I've heard all day." He laughed. "Here." He stripped off his own shirt and handed it to her. "You can wear this." He knew she probably wouldn't want to walk past his little brothers who were playing in the yard with her bra exposed.

"Thanks. I'll bring it back to you. " She slipped into the barn to change.

But Matt couldn't stop himself from slipping in behind her. He watched her remove her shirt, then stepped forward and touched her bare side, surprising her. He pulled her close, and closed his mouth upon hers, pulling away his shirt that she used to cover herself and tossing it to the side. He picked her up, pulling her legs around his waist and carried her to the large pile of hay and laid her down.

"Matt." She said between breaths. "I don't want to be confused by you right now."

"How am I confusing you?" He kept kissing her. He craved her more than he'd ever craved any other woman. She put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"This has always been wonderful and I love you so much, but outside of this, you act like you hate me."

"I don't hate you." He whispered. Now his eyes were down cast, which gave him a great view of her bra that he couldn't help but trace. "I've always loved you. I don't know if makes sense, but I always thought that you were just passing time with me."  
"Why?"

"You're too pretty and too good for a man like me." He sighed. "And now I guess you know that."

"I always thought that I wasn't good enough for you." She smiled weakly. "I've never been able to please anyone and I really don't like disappointing you."

"You've never disappointed me. Ever. I know I got mad, but that was the stress. I didn't know how to deal with all of it and I had to. You coming here, saved me." He admitted. "And I don't even know how I managed to earn that."

"Matt. You're the only man who touched me kindly."

"Oh." He felt horrible. "I guess I messed that up."

"No." she laughed at him. "Even that day you grabbed my arm, you were gentle."

"I left a bruise."

"But you didn't mean to and that's the difference. My father, Logan. They meant to hurt me. They mean to leave bruises and wound me."

"Will you please move back in, Randie." He begged. "I'll sleep on the couch if I have to. I just really miss you being here when I come home."

"I think I'm going to have to." She smiled. "It seems you're the only one who can get Olivia back to sleep at night." She turned away. "And I'm pregnant."

"Huh?" he was flabbergasted. "Did you forget a pill? I don't understand."

"I take that shot Matt. It's supposed to work for months."

He sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

"Matt, please don't do that. I need to know what you're thinking."

He turned and grabbed her. "I think you're gonna give me a dozen babies. And I think I'm gonna have to build a few more rooms."

It was the last time they ever fought. Just like playing house when they were kids, everything worked out just as it should.

The End.


End file.
